Thunderstruck
by RE Zera
Summary: Living life as if every second was her last, because really, was there ever time for anything else? Or: where Haruno Sakura becomes the guardian of the two poor unfortunates that got stuck with her of all people. (SI/OC Sakura)
1. Temptation! A black cat's charm?

**Hello people! This is my new fanfic called Thunderstruck, a rewritten version of my other fanfic.**

**But**** you don't have to read the other one, do what you want.*shrugs uncertainly***

**Anyway, because this is the first chapter, I won't delay you any further.**

**Sooo...**** onto the story!**

O.o.O

Reina Santiago didn't want to go home that night.

Why?

Because of the sudden urge of _wanderlust._

She breathed inwardly. The breath was sharp, causing her to take in the scent of rain that was damp in the air, most likely about to start up again soon.

Wanderlust; A strong urge or desire to travel the world. It was in the name, but tonight...she just felt..._restless. _Like she had to _do _something. And she did. She used up some of her untouched savings to get her hair dyed. She couldn't exactly regret it, but she really wished she hadn't sat in that salon chair for an _two hours _for a bit of blonde. Now, a long streak of golden blonde just barely brushed her shoulders.

As she turned her eyes to the sky, she noted the lack of stars, but the string lights barely made up for it._The_ _street's of this city always look nicer_ _at midnight._

And they did. Bright lights illuminated through the streets and darkened buildings, glittering like stars, dimly enhanced by the moonlight.

(She still thought stars were better, compared to neon city lights )

Her rosy lips parted, a quiet stream of lyrics flowing._"The more I fight, the more I work, the more I dig into the dirt. To be fed up, to be let down, to somehow turn it all around-" _She spun around, stopping to avoid collision with preoccupied pedestrians. "_but then fate knocks me to my knees, and sets new height's beyond my reach_.

Her ears pricked as she picked up loud shouts and conversations of teenagers and adults alike resonating in response to the high energy felt in the area. The girl let out a small smile as a small boy was bounding up and down on the sidewalk near her, clearly eager to go somewhere. Reminded her a bit of herself, with all the not redirected energy bursting within her. The poor mother was holding onto a multitude of bags, dropping them as she scrambled to pick them up.

The woman had dark, ginger colured hair, paired with silver-gray eyes, deciding was rather pretty. She had a dark blue jean jacket, over a white flowing sundress and grey sandals.

"Excuse me," The seventeen year old said, lightly grasping onto the little boy's shoulders who collided against her. "Do you need any help?" (It was always better to ask then to help and someone assume you're stealing from them) Teenagers were accused of so much these days. Drugs, alcohol, other 'questionable' actions. She cringed, feeling her heart twinge with disgust. _I hate alcohol._

The woman appeared flustered, embarrassed at the actions of her son before nodding gratefully as Reina bent to pick up the fallen groceries. "Thank you dear," The young mother then turned to look down at the boy with a mock-glare. "And you! Stop running on the sidewalks! How many times have I told you not too?!?"

The admittedly adorable dark-brown haired boy seemed take it to heart, ticking off his small fingers. "Um...this many?" She looked down to see him holding out a hand before crouching down in front of him.

"Want to know something?" She whispered, amber eyes slightly shadowed by the brim of her black sunhat. He nodded excitedly, not noticing the mothers exasperated groan. As he peered up closer at her, he gasped, eyes sparkling with childlike joy.

"Kaa-chan! Her eyes are so pretty! It's like the m-marigold floers in the pawk!" The boy had a slight lisp when he spoke, and some words seemed more difficult than others to word out, she noted. And he said Kaa-chan? Wasn't that japanese for 'mother'? He had looked asian, although his mother did not, from her husband maybe?

Snapping out of her analyzing, she ruffles his hair, flashing a small smile at him for the compliment. _At least he doesn't think my eyes are creepy._

After that, he felt his thumb being pushed down by a tanned finger as he blinked curiously. "You're thumb doesn't count as a finger, because it's just a thumb." She talked slower, not because he was a child, but so he could process her words. When he did, he looked down at his hand in an observing way, nodding along with her.

Releasing his hand, she stood up to give the plastic bags to his now amused mother.

She gave the two a wink, tipping her hat down at the child, bowing in a curtsy.

When she turned to walk away, the woman had called back to her, concern evident in her tone. "Will you be alright? You're very nicely dressed and it's rather dark out, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

In a strange way, she wished for excitement, for something to happen. Certainly not what the woman was speaking of, of course.

She looked down, surveying her appearance. She had on a black romper that was styled like capri pants at the bottom tied with ribbons, sheer black material at the top. Gold bangles jingling on both of her wrists. On her head, there was black sunhat was placed on her short wavy black hair, with a newly dyed single streak of yellow blonde. Her shoes were black, short, gladiator sandals with a small heel.

What she was wearing was casual, right? Besides...

The blonde-streaked girl patted the heavy white tote bag on her shoulder. "I have pepper-spray and am capable of defending myself, so I'm alright." At the very least, she was grateful for the concern. Most (not all) people were always so caught up with themselves that they don't even notice the entire world around them. It was hard to find people who cared for your actual well being then to ignore it and move on as if it never happened.

The ginger-haired woman nodded approvingly. "Alright, be careful." She paused momentarily before apologizing suddenly in remembrance. "I haven't introduced myself, I'm sorry! My name is Joanne Takahashi!"

_So I was right. _The amber-eyed girl nodded. She moved and walked a few feet away, not seeing the woman's surprise. She then turned to give a two-fingered salute, calling out her name.

"The name's Reina! Reina Santiago!"

"It was nice meeting you dear! And thank you!" Joanne waved with a smile. Her son slipped out from behind her, cupping his mouth to yell out something to the girl.

Understanding dawned on her as she waved back at him in thanks for his kind words. As she strode away, a small smile started to quirk on her glossed lips._ I__ guess children really aren't that bad after all._

_Santiago-san...has a really nice voice_! He had said, stumbling a bit on the words.

Hmmmm... She supposed this was her third good deed for the day.

Wait..that came out wrong.

Reina, ever since she was young, had a habit. It was more of a challenge or game for herself. It tested her patience, emotional skills, and her ability to socialize, not that she was any good at that.

She knew the world would someday fall to shambles, and no one ever took the time of day to notice their surroundings. More often than not, their faces were glued to their phones, or calls or _something._

Quite frankly, it _irked _her.

Now..._What__ to do, what to do? _She walked slowly, taking in all the sights. Reina twirled the blonde strand between her fingers, eying the large cafe, filled to the brim with people.

Ah yes, rebellion never looked so_ good._

Exiting the cozy place, she left with an iced coffee and two vanilla cupcakes. The bag crinkled beneath her hand as she shifted, trying to balance her tote bag and other bag. In doing so, her eye glanced to the side, catching a hint of something dimly sparkling. _A necklace?_

She rubbed her eyes. Once, twice, thrice, before concluding what she was seeing was real.

The lights from nearby traffic and apartments did nothing to clear the dark streets. Passerbys stared at her weirdly before going about their business as she slowly walked deeper into the alleyway. Pinching her nose, she shined the light emmitting from her phone. She was right, it was a necklace, but it was on something... _It's too dark to see._

(Admittedly, thinking back it was stupid of her to go into a dark alleyway were someone could sneak up on her.)

As she gazed forward, her body stiffened suddenly.

It was a cat...

A very well taken care of _cat_.

The black, glossy, sheen of it's fur, the white rounded trimmings of it's nails... astounded her to say the very least. How the animal was _clean _in a place like this, she had no clue. Except.. it was wearing what looked to her to be a crystal stone embedded in a gold collar. It's next collar caught her eye the most, a pure silver colour with a black plated charm hanging off. Written in what looked to be a chinese character in white.

... And while a tad bit strange, that wasn't what unnerved her to no end.

It's eyelids had been closed, but when they opened...

The weirdest thing... was that it had the same colored eyes as her. Hers was a strange mix, one of startling golden amber, with hints of dark yellow in the center, barely noticible. Her eyes were by any means not _normal_. Especially by genetics; her mother had dark brown eyes, and her _biological _father from what she remembered had dark, ashen gray too. Her mother said it could have been from her distant grandmother, but she was well past the age of living. And even if that was true, why was it practically yellow gold?

So nobody, not even a _cat, _should have the same kind of eyes she had.

Luminous orbs clashed with each other, one curious and a hiss of interest.

Wait... hissing?

It was... _feral. _The cat's eyes slit into purer, _brighter,_ gold, glowing fiercly and hissing at her to leap out. One glance and it already saw how she had her eyes trained on the collar. Was it protecting the collars? They was valuable, sure, but what for? Sentimentality?

It..._that actually makes sense. I was never good with animals_, _no wonder the thing is hissing at me._

Reina could safely say that she had never had a pet in her life because they avoided her like the plague. In elementary school, their class had cajooled the teacher into buying them a class pet, which was a small goldfish. Whenever she got near it, however, it had swam away, it's black, beady eyes looking at her with apprehension. She didn't do anything either, and it's not like she could if she wanted too.

She knew a small encounter shouldn't have been enough to solidify those kinds of thoughts, but what else could she think?

Her heeled feet moved backwards, feeling of condensation of the cup and sweat on her palms make the coffee slip out of her hand, the plastic lid bursting against the concrete to enevitably splotch and splatter around the sidewalk and her cheek.

_Splat!_

Ice and milky coffee hit the ground, the cold cup rolling away to abandon the drink. She tore her eyes away only to be stunned at the sight before her. It was the cat, lapping away at the coffee slowly and then pausing to take in the taste of it.

As then it straightened, holding itself proudly and regally, cocking it's head at her as if it were too important to be in her presence. Reina smirked, a bit like herself in that manner, only less stuck-up. _What__ a prideful thing._ Gold and amber regarded each other cooly.

"Well," She started, feeling her heart rate start to dial down. Honestly, getting afraid of a cat, she was really loosing her touch.

Reina bent down to pick up the cup away from it. She was a little disappointed, the cold drink wasted, but it was no use crying over spilled milk, only in this case it was 'spilled coffee'. "Aren't you a rather strange cat?" She moved closer, reaching out to brush the black sleek coat of the cat. _So soft. _Surprisingly, he hadn't hissed at her again, only purring in contentment and relentlessness.

( Yes, _he. _She finally figured out that it was a male and not _female, _just from the unfortunate view of it's back side)

"What are you doing in an alleyway anyway? Someone leave you behind to?" The tinge of bitterness in her tone didn't escape the cat's ear as she let out a small laugh.

She got up, streching out her arms above her, faintly hearing the sigh dissatisfaction. "It's not like it's any of my business anyway."

He stopped, eyes narrowing in slight interest. Reina picked up on that and gave a warning look to the cat. "Don't think you're getting something out of me that easy." The cat's lip jutted forward, reminicint of a...

"Are you pouting?" Reina asked incredulously at the jewel-bearing feline in front of her.

He turned his head to the side with a huff. She scoffed, tilting her head up to the midnight blue sky. With a sigh, she lowered her head, sending the cat a considering look. "Do you.. have an owner?" As soon as the cat gave her somewhat of an amused, she at her stupidity. "Right, Reina, cat's can't talk."

Reina bit her lip, what was she going to do now? Her features morphed into one of contemplation, trying to figure out the best course of action. _Should I take him to an animal shelter? No, he would just be stuck there forever. _She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she watched the cat lean down to taste more of her coffee. Hell, it probably wasn't good for cat's to be drinking that sort of thing, even if there wasn't much coffee in it. _I can't very well take him home_.

She could almost picture it, feeling her feet pace around in a mocking way. _'Reina, it's bad to bring home strays, foolish, foolish, girl.' 'Honestly, it's a wonder how you're mother put up with you before I came along.' _She felt her nose twitch upwards in disgust. "What a wretched man," she muttered. _He never fails to occupy my thoughts, even if he's not around._

The golden orbed girl closed her eyes. Crossing her arms, she gave the cat a half-lidded expression. "Well? Where would you want to go? I could imagine living in this alleyway isn't very..._pleasant._" The place had garbage everywhere, the smell fumigating the area with musk, mold, and _rotting. _She shuddered deciding to now breath in through her mouth than her nose.

The slick-furred black animal circled around her carefully, sniffing her every now and then before pawing at the pastry bag. _Probably the best thing he's smelled in a while. _She lifted it out of reach at his indignant meows. "I know you can't understand me, so..." The cat showed off his pointed teeth at her suddenly as she made awkward gestures. "Well, I'm no good at this." She let out a breath, dragging her hand over her face.

Reina stepped out of the alleyway, gesturing at the bright light beyond it. He took tentative steps, paws padding against the grimy concrete and only stopping to stare at her with question. instead, she slipped off her hat, shaking out her black and blonde hair. Her lips tugged upwards at his yelp and seeing the lightweight object settle on his head. It was too large, and he had to push the floppy hat up to see over the brim, his golden eyes blinking in surprise.

She placed her index finger to her lips, eyes shining at the animal. Taking short strides, she lowered her voice to the barest of whispers. "I didn't want people staring at you weird, so I'll take it off later." Infact, people were already cooing at the animal, saying the hat and cat were positively _adorable_ and _well-taken care of._

She snorted, eyes trained forward at the stop light. When it turned into the walking symbol, she strode quickly as the cat caught up with bouncing strides. Inhaling, the scent of humidity filled her nose instantly. _Rain water, _she confirmed.

_Drip...drip... drop!_

The cat seemed to have sensed it, clawing away at the sky at the clouds rolling in faster. She leaned down to scoop the cat up in her left arm, and dug into her bag to grab her currently downsized umbrella in the right.

_Pop!_

Reina's thumb clicked the button, extending it above her and the cat. The hat wouldn't do much at this rate, rain soaking through it to make it heavier. She sat down on the concrete, swinging her legs under the small railings to let them dangle off the cliff edge. Arm folded to rest on the rails, she held the umbrella in her other hand and set down her pastry bag on the ground right next to her. She didn't want the water to

The place she was at? A nice little place called _Cañonera_. Well, that was the name _she _gave to it.

It surprisingly didn't have a name, so most called it like they saw it. But the sign on the side just said 'beach area below' which was rather boring.

Cañonera, or literally 'railgun' was an electromagnetic pulse of energy propelled by a projectile (or something). In the beginning, she named it that because of the lightning strikes that frequented the area as they crashed against the sea. Of course, she had some type of self-preservation so she left before it could actually get the chance to hit _her._

Now she always thought of the 'rail' part coming from the short railings seperating you from falling a painful drop.

It was a long, _long_, way down... and below was only sparkly sea water. The winding steps on the other side led to the beach, but _underneath _her dangling feet? Complete water, illuminated by the light of the hanging, milky, white moon.

And despite the vantage point, the place was actually really popular. But nobody dared venture there at night, in fear of the ridiculous urban legends surrounding it _and _the fact that you couldn't see anything. Ridiculous meaning... that a ghost that petrified people _existed._ So either it was a rumor, or it actually existed. She was betting on the former, rather than the latter.

Reina sighed, hearing the rain come to an achingly slow stop. The soft pitter patter had calmed her nerves, and now she no longer felt like wandering. Instead she just felt..._tired. _A surpressed yawn alerted the cat, as he stopped clawing away at the confection bag.

He meowed loudly, as she let out a breathy laugh mixed with a dragged out yawn. "Fine fine, are cat's always so impatient? I don't even think cat's should be eating stuff like this anyway." Her grumbles were for naught as she passed him the small treat.

She held it curiously, inspecting it as the cat beside her dove in with no hesitation. She let a smile tug on her lips at the style and design. _It's really good._

She didn't choose what she wanted, the words 'pick whatever' coming out of her mouth before she could stop it. It wasn't common, but the Barista had done it anyway without question. The cupcake liner was silver, and the cake a pure vanilla white colour. Frosting wrapped around the top in a spiral of white with shimmer, decorated with edible gold and silver stars. She placed a silver star on her tongue, tasting vanilla. _These aren't normal sprinkles, did they make them?_

Darn shame to eat, because it was pretty _and _simple.

"Hey, slow down. At least admire the beauty of it before ruining the thing," Reina admonished, pausing to see him lick frosting off his paws and claws with satisfaction. He gave her a sly glance, claws swiping at her playfully. Trying to say she wasn't concerned with herself was an understatement. More along the lines of,_"I'm having a one sided conversation with a cat"._

She ignored the sudden hissing of he cat, unwrapping the foil with ease. She took a bite, letting her pearly white teeth sink into the fluffy dessert. The frosting was What she hadn't realized until it was too late, was the silent steps behind her. Her ears twitched, turning around quickly at the sound to the right. No one was there.

She twisted her body as much as she could from her seat, only to see someone a fair distance away wearing dark clothing. The musty smell of smoke filled her nose as her nose wrinkled. _Ugh._

Faint rattling of chains filled her ears and with a pang of dread, it dawned on her as she eyed the glint of silver. _Chain belts, _the body shifted, a dark gloved hand reaching out to twirl a glinting object between it's fingers. The moonlight shone on them, revealing the object of polished silved. _And__ a knife. _

She desperately tried to slow down her pounding heartbeat, trying to use the navy umbrella to shield herself further. _Stay calm, panic does nothing. _That was one of the first things her mother had instilled in her. 'Don't panic; and in return, you'll find yourself in a better state of mind.' _Yeah, right. _Her hand clasped around the small mouth of the sudden hissing of the male cat. Reina let out a small groan of pain as warmth dripped out of her palm in rivulets. _Blood,_ she clamped her hand tighter, noticing the cat start to settle down and stop squirming. _The bite is shallow, but I'm not taking any chances._ She was most definitely _going to go to the hospital after this ordeal. _

_If you even make it out __**alive**, _a small whisper at the back of her mind cackled.

"_Hey." _The voice was that of sick pleasure. _Male,_ she identified. Her stomach twisted,feeling the churning of what she had previously eaten want to come back up. " Girl, what are you doing in _our _territory?" _Must have seen my sandals,_ there was no other way they could have assumed her _gender _of all things.

A bubble of irritation rose within her. A soft, haunting chuckle escaped her as her darkly lined eyes narrowed, all worry forgotten. "_Your _territory? That's quite funny, seeing as I don't see your name on the sign." Her silent anger only grew as she heard the demeaning laughter of the others. _All of them are male,_ that much she could tell.

"Does she know what she's getting into?" A pitied sigh.

"Hasn't she heard the rumors?" A rapt whisper.

"Boss, why can't we just _take _her now? She's not armed." The last voice had a certain tone of desperate glee.

Her lip curled upwards in disgust at the last comment. She was well aware of both meanings, not that she would _ever _offer them something of that degree in return for them not to kill her. It was a horrible flaw, to have so much pride to not want to live in exchange of abandoning your in dignity.

"You, _take me?" _Her tone grew shrill into one of faux-fear and innocence. Not that they would discern the two. "Oh my, how utterly _frightening!"_ Her eyes were still trained on the glistening water beneath her. Her unoccupied hand reached into her tote bag, resting the umbrella in the crook of her elbow, covering her movements entirely. Her grip tightened on the object, the faint tiny click of the can opening ringing in her ears. _Got it._

The shadow of the umbrella blew away at his hand, casting shining moonligh over her. His heavy footsteps grew closer and before she could move cold metal was poised against her neck. "Girl, I won't ask again." The blade dug into the nape of her neck further, making an indentation on her tanned skin. She flinched, gritting her teeth to suppress a cry. "Why are you _here? _It's clearly passed your _bedtime." _

Her head was bowed, arm moving ever so slightly to move the cat. Her chin was roughly grabbed to look him in the eye, catching the widening of his.

"You've got quite the pair of eyes girl, got a name?" Reina eyed the man, taking in his features. _Dark hair and eyes, early 30's maybe? Not very old, but most definitely the leader._

"Yes actually," He never knew she was stalling, _waiting. _"One that you will never have the pleasure of hearing, either." She felt the blade dig deeper, feeling something wet dripping against her skin. _I have one shot,_ the metal felt burned to her, stinging with a faint line on peach toned skin. She turned quickly, the man not catching her movements and the blade slid across her skin. She brandished the item, swinging her legs from underneath the rails to jump into a crouch.

_Hisssss!_ A low, silent hiss emerged from the object as the man stumbled back with a string of curses. He rubbed his eyes furiously, burning spreading throughout his irises. Tears streamed down his closed eyes before he opened them slightly as to not get more of the substance in his dark orbs. He looked over with blurred eyes, sticky yellow covering his vision. He cursed loudly, gripping the knife tighter. He lunged at her, not missing a beat in his barrage of swings. "You bitch!"

Reina winced as she jumped to the side with a roll, grabbing the black cat in her hands._ He's__ becoming reckless! _The sound of her bag tearing made her almost let out a groan as the sight of her things fell out with a clean, slashing sound. She dropped the canister, reaching into her back pocket for a sleek, black, weapon. His vision was impaired, meaning his attacks would be more and more- _left__, right!-_ She twisted her body into a crouch position once more, a step causing her to fall back.

The cat in her hands jumped and landed on the concrete with perfect poise. He gave her wide eyes, cocking his head behind her in warning with a loud meow and outstretched paws. Her eyes widened, large pairs of arms restraining her. She pushed away from the men, feeling her head slam against the railing and blood gush down her mouth. A thick stream of blood trained down her nose and temple. Another slam. Again, and again and again. _S..stop it. _Her head felt like it was about to burst open.

Her head spun as her vision became spotted with black dots. Her gold eyes weren't even open as a faint crackling sound filled her ears.

She pushed off the ground as she was suddenly roughly pulled up by her chin, a slow, derogatory, smirk creeping on their faces. "Girlie, you shouldn't have done that to our boss, so I think a little..."A lanky one trailed off into a leering grin, flashing yellowed teeth at her. A buzz filled her ears again, only more sharp. "_Punishment,_ is in order." A black thing was shoved in front of her face, all fur and glowing eyes. "Starting with _him."_

Him? Reina knit her brow in concentration, tasting a metallic, rich flavor on her tongue heavily. _Blood... my blood. _Her eyes shifted into focus, eyes sparking brightly in realization and unbridled fury. They wouldn't-"Don't you dar-"

"Too late, _Sweatheart~"_ She knew the familiar sound...it was her _taser._

Her heart pounded irregularly, fear of the animal filling her mind. _How cruel..._ Her fist tightened in her held back arms, Large crackling resonated beside her, causing her to release short breaths. She couldn't think straight, and doubted she ever would again. It was like a spiraling migraine, coming at her one minute then leaving her at peace for another._ I__ think I have severe head trauma, followed by copious amounts of blood loss. _Reina was no doctor, but she wasn't an idiot.

She watched the trance with crimson liquid dropped to the ground. Such a beautiful yet dangerous colour.

_Drip...drip...drip..._

His hand lifted slowly, cackling at her expression. "You had so much _fire, _where did it all go?" He mocked. Her back arched as she was shoved against the edge of the land, arms behind her and only a metal, short railing from keeping her falling. The scent of sea breeze and humidity calmed her, even as rocks and dust crumbled beneath her feet.

"But...I've changed my mind!"

Ambered eyes gave him a deadly look, not in the mood for mind games. Her eyes were drowsed, closing every split second but figting to keep herself awake in an attempt to get herself out of this situation. _Focus! If you go unconscious now, heaven knows what they'll do later!_

"I'll taser _you, _and the cat gets the ocean! How does that sound!" It's official. In her eyes, this man was completely _psycho! _And she thought he was the most _normal _looking out of the bunch. _Guess you really can't judge by covers, huh? _

"...You are a _sick _and _twisted _person who will burn someday in the greatest depths of _hell, _" Reina groaned in utter pain, spine bending against the cool metal awkwardly. He gave her a frown in return, relishing her shrieks of pain internally.

"You're no fun," He pouted, gaining worried glances from the other men as. "_But_..." His voice morphed into something more sinister, losing the childishness that was displayed previously. "You are becoming more and more _boring _in my eyes." The barred metal of the taser jerked up her chin, seeing the night sky above.

A flash of gold alerted her immediately, seeing the feline grabbed by the scruff of his neck. His claws lashed out and swiped at the man, charm smacking him in the face. "Ugh," He gave the black cat a look of disdain. "You _reek,_ so just go and..._take a bath," _His hand was already dangerously close to the edge, and her shout alone could not stop him from his next actions.

"Don't-!" Closer, and _closer._

_Fwoosh!_

The man had yanked the gold colar of the black cat's neck, tossing him into the abyss of water below. Reina screamed reaching backwards to try and grasp the cat's tail, only to miss by a _second. _The feline slipped out of her hold, golden, surprised eyes staring back at her.

"And don't think I've forgotten about _you."_

_Tick, tock._

She froze, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck raise. The crackle garnered her attention, before her vison slid out of focus again before shifting. Her head pounded, irises dilating rapidly. _One... last.._ She jerked forward, catching the man by surprise and taking back the golden collar. She then leaned back and took a breath, eyes narrowed at the quickly descending animal. _Cat's cant swim...but I can._

Reina's hand gripped the rails, head leaned back as blood dripped down. Her hands twisted, arching her body back into a flip as she went over the rails in a single action.

It was the single most stupid thing she had done, and the smallest part of her regretted it, the part that wanted to _live. _She knew life came and went, and could now say that her life was flashing before her eyes. She remembered the last time she saw her mother, the last time she snuck out of her house, her _father. _

But there's a small part of her that was glad she was dying, she wasn't an idiot, anyone could tell that life was slowing leaving her. Blood was flowing out of her quickly, from her head. Her vison was blurring too much, with black clouding her peripherals.

Her body collided into the animal she wanted to help, strangely enough. The cat scowled at her, but she couldn't quite tell. But then, the scowl softened into something she couldn't recognize. She could feel the collar being taken from her clenched palm, only to be lightly clasped around her neck. The weight settled against her skin uncomfortably and she tugged on it.

_"Idiota," _Reina muttered incoherently, reaching up to tug it harder. "I'm only dying faster now thanks to you." Her blood felt stilted, not flowing anymore. Her eyes trailed down, feeling the rushing of wind in her ears and head. The raidiant ocean she always admired was getting closer.

Their eyes pierced one another for the last time.

"Hey, I always wanted to know," Reina trailed off, eyes closing for the last time. Her new collar clinked against the charm of the feline. _It sounds like my tuning forks. _A familiar sound, one that was oddly comforting. A silver glow emanated from them, but neither noticed. He meowed in acknowledgement, but would never get to hear it.

_Splash!_

Water flooded her lungs and ears as she heard rumbling sound start up into the sky. Her strange question repeated again and again, not being answered.

_Do cat's really have nine lives?_

The clock struck midnight with the sea dyed red.

_End._


	2. Restart! Try again!

**Hey guys! I'm back!**

**Anyways *clears throat* I'm sure you people are wondering what my update schedule is.** **My**** plan is to update every other week, but if i I can't it's because I might be busy with other things.**

**Oh****! And to Arcane Charmcaster who noticed my mistake, thank you! I hadn't even realized I typed it backwards until you pointed it out.**

**(P.S, she _might _do seal work in the near future )**

**This chapter is dedicated to someones who's reviews really brighten up my day! Thank you mariana** **Fan! You've followed my stories for a while and I'm really grateful!**

**And to the people who took the time to read, review, favorite, and heart this fic!**

**With that out of the way, onto the story!**

**(I don't own Naruto or any other references in this story)**

O.o.O

Seeing black for so long was just _dreary._

She had thought it would have been different.

Y'know, the whole _dying _thing.

In reality?

Dying felt just plain... _strange._

She felt... blank. Nothing. No feeling, no _anything. _She had believed in afterlife, and judgement and all that _crap _only to end up in a place that was neither Hell _or _heaven.

...Okay she took that back. Crap seem justified but not in this _context, _it was just... different? No, it was _uncomfortable _and _painful._

To some, it would feel like sleep paralysis. The nagging feeling of being half-awake but not being able to move? The sensation was foreign, and it was like she was paralyzed. She couldn't see. She couldn't _breathe. _(Did the dead need to breathe? She didn't know). She couldn't feel her clothing and most of all she couldn't _move._ She felt awake, but her body wasn't catching up to her _mind. _Her eyelids were closed, like when she was dying only when she tried to muster the energy to do _something, _she just failed.

She wanted to scream.

_What the hell?_ Reina had no clue what time it was or the day. It was like time had completely stilled for her, like her body was...

_In a form of Stasis_, she realized in contemplation. _But how? _Oh wait, she recalled sarcastically, who ever ruled the afterlife decided she wasn't good enough for any of that and instead chose to stick her in a place that she was now dubbing _purgatory._ Irritation over took her rapidly as she tried to do something. She hated it, the feeling of being in the same place for so long. It was bubbling inside her, coursing beneath her skin.

_Move ..._

_I hate this..._

"_-ime for her to wake up."_ Reina felt the sudden urge to open her eyes and yell at the person. _Who the hell..?_

"You don't mean me, do you? Because you're a little _late." _She rasped, not realizing her mouthed had moved until she voiced her thought's aloud. Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt like sandpaper.

"Cheeky aren't you, _darling."_

Her eye twitched at the honorific. _What did they just call me?_

Her body was heavier and drowsed, like she had woken up from a long drug induced sleep. _More like a god-damned nightmare._ She let out a strangled cough, feeling everything jolt back to her at once. She twitched her ears, and slowly tried to flex her fingers.

She next tilted her head back and forth, loosening up the aching in her neck. She lifted her arms, reaching up to rub the cricks out of her neck. _That's better, _a sigh escaped her lips before she touched her throat that was oddly bare. Reina winced, _that hurt._

Wait, the collar! Her eyes snapped open in an instant. She was on the ground, feeling a smooth, cold, surface against her neck. Her eyes trailed to the ground before her amber eyes took in the area around her, swallowing roughly in muted shock._ What...what is this?_ Her body jolted forward, sitting her upright.

A crystal, glassy, misshaped, object was encasing her inside, glowing a faint sheen of blue, containg hints of bright yellow on the lower area's. The enormity of it stunned her as her amber irises took in the sight of the gold ring circling the platform situated at the edges, more like a thick band then anything else. The surface, she noted, was clouded, like a hazy fog or breath on a mirror. _It's_ _like__ mist__ is inside it. _It was like a mirror on the inside, but not visible on the outside.

Reina hadn't even looked at her appearance, and she meant _really _looked. She gingerly observed with growing horror the state of her head. Her black hair was still the same, only red flowed from the sides of her bangs. _Blood, _but it wasn't dripping down her head from her wound; instead it was stunted, just frozen in a dripping state. She felt no pain, as her fingertips brushed her right temple. Her hand pulled away, red not showing on her fingers. _It's still warm, but it's not moving? Because__ I'm dead? Or what?_ She squinted into the foggy surface, seeing her boldened features. _And what's with the makeup? _

Her eyes were lined with a heavier black, she noticed, and dusted with bronze glitter. No other alterations were made to her, to her relief. Her body copied the mirrored version of herself touching the white dress on her, a ringed silver belt hanging off her hips. Shoes weren't present on her feet, only showing off her bare ankles and tanned feet.

She turned her head to the side, gazing at everything at once. She stopped, gaining control of herself. Her hand itched to touch the glassy surface cautiously before drawing it back. "I shouldn't." The excitement within her died down quickly as she narrowed her eyes.

"Actually if you don't, I have a feeling you'll never get out." A voice suddenly echoed around her, vibrating from the sides.

_Who is that? _She coughed into her fist in an attempt to erase the dryness. "Oh? So are _you_ the one who put me in here, whoever you are?" It was plausible. No one else was around, but she wouldn't point fingers yet. _Better yet, how is it they can see me?_

The person let out a small chuckle. A low, soft, melodic sound that made her purse her lips. "Sorry, but you did this to yourself. I can't help you if you can't try first."

Reina's lips thinned, before her teeth dug into her lower one, drawing blood. "I beg your pardon?" All awe disappeared from her face as she narrowed her eyes. This person was telling her she _put _herself in here? This may have been the afterlife or whatever (she still wasn't sure) but she couldn't put herself in such a state even if she _could _move. "Why should I believe you?" She cringed at the way she talked. A small thread of doubt was starting to weave through her mind.

A sigh, and then: "The choice is yours in the end, I tried." The dejected tone didn't mask the slight mischievous note in the strangers voice.

Her eyes narrowed into slits, right eye twitching. _Guilt tripping_..Her scowl deepened as she stood up shakily from her sitting position. Her hands rested on her knees as she tried to hobble forward. At this point, one of her hands was on her knee and the other just barely grazing the glass. _I don't know what I'm doing... _she sighed at the opaque surface, face softening from its anger, _but..._

_Poke! _Her action was quick and barely there as she drew her hand back with lightning speed. She hesitantly rapped her fist on the crystal glass as nothing happened. Pulling back once more, she looked at her fist curiously. Huh? She knitted her brows._ Nothing happened?_

Reina seemed to have spoken to soon because the slightest crack started to weave deftly across the crystal. Her feet instinctively moved back at the small sound. Gold eyes darted around at the sound, searching for the noises location. _Shattering_? The sound of a mirror being broken rang in her ears. The cracks quickly became spider-webbed across the misted surface, breaking into larger and larger sections. _Click, clack! _It was like tiny shards of glass were falling to the ground and echoing in the small space. Reina reached to touch it again to speed up the process, but this time, it completely dissipated at her grazing fingers.

It thrummed under her touch, white sparks dancing across her vision until-

_Boom!_

She instinctively brought her arms up to shield her face, ice cold wind blasting her as the crystal blew backwards, hitting her as she barely stood. Stunned, she looked at the palm of her hand with wide eyes. Knees buckling, her body lurched at the throbbing sensation at the back of her head. Hissing, Reina stumbled at the stirring feeling in her mind_. What__ the..._ immediately she yelped at the feeling of something warm dripping down her neck and someone catching it with a single finger,causing her to squeak.

(That never happened. _Period._)

"Nicely done." A voice cheered loudly in her ear, drawing her closer, adding: "y'know, for a second there, I didn't think you would listen to me." The male's tone was teasing, catching her as she sunk against him. Her head was pressed against something warm, light purples, blues, and golds flooding her line of vision. "Hurts!" She choked out at the feeling of her aching head pushed against his chest.

"Sorry," A hand grasped her forearm gently, pulling her up. She shrugged the arm off, turning her head to the side to avoid red streaming down her eyes. She spun around quickly, causing blood to splatter down her dress and face with an irritated look.

It was a boy, he appeared to be in his late teens, having rather... _bright _features. His hair was a dark indigo,(dyed or real, she had no clue) swept up into a messy high ponytail with stray locks brushing his face. Eyes of bright purple captivated her placed on pale, alabaster toned skin. He was tall, his lean body crossing his arms and flexing mildly. What he was wearing was peculiar to her. Donning his lithe body was a half-open indigo kimono top he was wearing, only it was covering the right side of his body, tied off with a white sash hanging off his waist. It had a white underlayer, lined with a thick line of black followed by a thin one near it.

Shades of blue and purple weaved across the top, hints of intricate gold spreading around the edges in a vine-like pattern. Bandages were wrapped around his torso like a shirt, stopping just above his pectorals. On his arms were long, black, fingerless gloves that stopped before his biceps. Hanging on his neck was black corded necklace, a light blue gemstone clinging to it. He was wearing black baggy pants and had a similar set of bandages tied around his ankles accompanied by dark red platform sandals.

In short, he was attractive and she _didn't like it one bit._

"Water?" He cheerfully handed her the glass, not paying attention to her annoyance.

Pressing a finger to her temple and downing the cup with the other, Reina scowled. "Who...who _are _you?" She asked clearer, not hiding the edge in her voice.

At this point, she didn't even care if she was being rude. Her head hurt, her vision was blurry, and she felt _exhausted. _Like she was still the same after drowning. _Drowning,_ she furrowed her brows, _if I drowned, why aren't I wet? And what exactly is this place?_ _And where is the cat from before?_

"Me?" Unkowing of her racing thoughts, the teenager pointed at himself in surprise, giving her a wide smile. "My name is Akihiko!" He glanced at the girl, tilting his head when her body began to sway. "But are you alright?" He eyed the bloody girl with concern. "Maybe you should sit down," _But then again, _he sweat dropped, _it's not like she can die of blood loss again. _Didn't she see the room? _I think Chrono made this place with the sole intent of standing out._

The room was ballroom styled, most of the walls donning a rich, silver colour. Large looming pillars of a similar colour accented the corners of the lavish room, curling along the edges. Ancient text lined the walls, some naming elements or scriptures of previous battle, the walls were descripted of information in different languages.

On one wall made completely of stone, each corresponding element was split up into four sections above the other, in overlapping circles near them. A sea blue _(water)_, crimson red_ (fire)_, deep forest green_ (earth)_, and a light, sky blue _(air)_. The subsections held lighter or darker shades of the previous ones; (_ice, lightning, sand, energy, and metal etc..) _and a lot moreTwo sets of tables were strangely set across from the other, as if deliberately meant to be separated stood, chairs next to them innocently. In the center of the room, two doors stood with no backing, just a frame. One was a dark ebony, carved of obsidian with a faded white chipped etched hourglass in the center. The other was a pure white crystal, a similar marking in black on it, a fresher colour.

Akihiko watched as she looked at him with confusion, eyes half-lidded. He did a double take at her 'look'. It was full of exasperation, wariness, and confusion, a combination he had yet to see before. "Sit? There aren't any chairs in here."

..._ What? _Akihiko frowned, bewildered at her sentence. Peering closer, he tapped his chin with his index finger. Nodding to himself, he stepped forward, placing a hand over her eyes and scouring the room. He ignored the small yell of "hey!" before leading her around the room. Making her feel around for objects, hearing her yes', he stopped, scratching his cheek. Then he trailed his palm down the wall, _no illusions, _he noted with a deepening frown.

"You really can't see?" _It's like she can see close up things, and not out of her peripherals_.

"The only thing I saw was you," As blankly as those words were said, he let out a snicker.

"Aww," he cooed, plopping her down in a gold chair studded with diamonds. He patted her head with cheeky smile, trying to distract himself. "That's the nicest thing I've heard all day!~" _More like all decade. __Now then..._Removing his hand, he pulled on her upper lid, scanning for veins and redness. "Your eyes are fine, but..." _The coloring is off, weren't her eyes gold? _He wondered, _now one is on the verge of being green-ish. _Flecks of gold remained closer to her pupil before completely fading out.

"_What._" She said flatly, slapping his hand away from her dry eyes.

"What the hell?"she muttered lowly, grimacing at the pain shooting through her eyes. "What is wrong with me?" She asked, tilting her head up for him to see her dulled eyes.

When Akihiko let out a curse, her gaze shot up to him alarmed at his language. "What is it?"

Her appearance was completely off now, the second eye bleeding into the same minty green-blue. "Reina," he started seriously. "Did you touch any of the crystal shards _after _you tapped the mirror?"

She cringed, remembering the rush of sparks that occured. _Like electricity._ "Yes, but- wait what do you mean mirror?" It was just crystal that _looked _like a mirror, even not counting the glass flooring.

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. _Don't_ _tell me she's already started the merging process. _"Give me your arm." He received her arm with a curious glance. Shaking her head, she sighed when she realized she would receive no answer. Reina slowly slid her eyes shut.

"So... can I ask something?" He paused to meet her irises, amethyst eyes inspecting her before nodding minutely. It was the least he could do for what she went through.

"What is this place? And who are _you_? Wait no, what's _wrong _with me?" She asked calmly leaning back against the chair, seeing as he didn't want to hurt her. His hand hovered over the vein in her wrist, before a pulse of white energy traveled over her arm before sinking in. She tensed, opening her eyes at the foreign sensation.

"What are you doing?" He switched arms this time, a dark grey seeping in. There. Now he would know if she really was the next one. _A diagnostic spell should do the trick._

Reina felt a spark of annoyance run through her. Was he even going to answer her question? She stood up, feeling the chair fall back with a clatter. "Are you going to answer me?" Darkness and warmth invaded her eyes as she blinked in surprise, pushing the hand away. "Can you stop that?" She thought she heard muttering, but ignored it. Why did he keep covering her eyes?!? She blinked, feeling it settle in her eyes. They slowly shifted into focus, light finally gathering in the darkened parts of her vision. _My eyesight... it's better now?_

"C'mon Hisui-chan," What did he call her? "Let's dance!"

She froze. _"What?" _A dance? At a time like this? _Why_ _is he dodging my questions? _Suspicion started to fill her mind along with paranoia. _I may be dead, but that doesn't mean I can't be sentenced to eternal pain or something._

He tiltes his head innocently. "Do you not know how?"

"I...do." Reina said grudgingly, but what kind did he mean? There were many types, ballroom, waltz, salsa, club, freestyle. She liked dancing, but only of her free will. She agreed, albeit hesitantly. "If I dance with you, will you answer my questions?" To her slight surprise, he nodded excitedly.

"As a matter of fact, we'll be playing a question game!" Dancing and a game? _Be still my beating heart,_ she thought sarcastically.

"...Question game?"

"Yup! We take turns asking each other questions, but you can only take three passes on questions. And as an added note, this game of ours will last seven minutes" She felt herself nod. _Seven and three? _"Why three?"

"One is too little, two is the same, three is a... _delicate _number, and four stands for death," Akihiko said, the room starting to gather up an odd chill. "Please, remember that."

_Death for four? _She almost let out a snort at that particular thought. She sounded like a demonic waitress after someone's soul. Shaking her head, she did vaguely recalled hearing that somewhere before._ Japanese culture__? Chinese? _She didn't remember.

He lightly grasped her arm, leading her to the far corner of the beautiful room. He spun her around, sliding her hand to his shoulder and his to her waist. Their hands were connected as a slow, bell-like rhythm started to chime throughout the desolate hall along with the click-clack of his shoes. He was humming, as nostalgia rippled through her as he twirled her around on the cold flooring.

"So, can you explain who you are? And what this place is?" She didn't know what type of dance this was, only trying to flow with his movements. _Like water. _He kept surprising her, always careful to avoid the two opposing doors of the center. He looked down at her 5'3 frame, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Hmm? Little ol' me? I'll answer the first question, but not the second seeing as we're supposed to take turns."

She gave him a sheepish look before he sidestepped them away from the tables. "Well, my 'official' title is the guardian of chaos, but most just call me Akihiko around here." At her confusion, he spun her around, drawing her back and gliding across the ground wih the same repeating steps.

"A guardian?" Her unspoken: _of what? _was visible on her face.

Akihiko winked at her roguishly, drumming his fingertips along her waist. She glared at him, daring him to overstep his boundaries. "Ah, ah, ah. Only _one _question. But anyways, my turn!" _Tricky little... _She frowned, nodded, then schooled her features in preparation. She would have to word her questions better then. _But what would he ask me?_

What came next was completely unexpected.

"...So Hisui-chan, what's your favorite color?"

She ended up tripping at that, but was stopped by the teenager from hitting the ground. "M-my favorite color?" _Of all things..._

She straightened, taking the lead and continuing their odd dance. "I don't have one," She muttered, _left, right, sidestep forward, _her eyes flitting upwards meeting her partners. His eyebrows had shot up, disappearing behind his fringe.

"You _don't_?!?" his tone was aghast and she couldn't quite put her finger as to why. "Yeah? So?" she said back with confusion.

"I'll tell you why in a few minutes." She really didn't need to know that her magic signature was partly based off color. If she didn't have one..._ I really hope she doesn't end up with something crazy. _

And as for her _other _question...

"There _is _heaven and hell, it's just..." He paused, seemingly trying to find the right word. "_Not _this place? No that's not right, it's more of a boundary line _between _the two places."

The dance continued but was more icy, the wind chime sounds becoming higher in pitch. Akihiko looked down, catching the unreadable glint flashing through her eyes. Her bare feet slowed to a stop, standing still as she slid her arms off the boy. The girl in white tensed, stepping away from him.

"...But then... what am _I _doing here?"

"I have a feeling, but I'm not sure if I'm completely accurate" Akihiko said, the fairy-like music stopping. His eyes widened, seeing the white frame behind her glow dimly with a blue tint. _Bingo, I totally knew it. Though__ I could have pegged her for chaos, __what, with the girls personality._

Amethyst trailed up to the marker. _She__ has 60 minutes. _He grimaced, that was barely enough time to construct her weapon and teach her the basics. The black hourglass had slight carvings on the side, marking time for the newest guardian. When it completed the time specification, it flipped over, starting again to wait for the next one.

"..." She was giving him an unimpressed look.

"Take a seat, this is going to take a while to explain." He guided her to sit down, this time near the doors. _I need to have a close eye on the time limit, or else the hell-hounds will show up._

Hell-hounds. They made sure people entered the gate at the right time, because it was only open for _five _minutes at a time. 'Chrono sure as hell didn't waste time, so you shouldn't either', was a saying he immediately thought of when he jumped in the gate for the first time. You didn't get in at the allotted slot, they dragged you into the depths of hell, regardless of who you are and what status you have. He himself was almost sent to hell by the skin of his ankles. _Literally_. He still had a lingering bite mark that was just scarred over flesh the past few years.

"You really shouldn't be all that offended," He started off, watching her sit down albeit a bit angrily. "I mean, it's not really a bad thing if you think about it."

"_Explain,_ for the love of all that's holy." Reina stressed as she sat down, crossing her legs on the cold chair.

"Let's start at the beginning of it all," he suggested with a placating smile. Akihiko then snapped his fingers, a dark blue book falling out mid-air. It was clearly old, what with the faded yellow pages and loose leaflets of papers falling out of it's thick binding. Engravings in black were strewn across the cover along with a bright golden yellow hue. _G...r...f? No that's an i..then m, o, another i and an r..e? _She arched a brow._ A grimoire_

He opened it, starting at the very first page. **_One?_** She peered over the book and read the dark, gothic lettering backwards. _He wasn't kidding about the beginning was he? _But then again, weren't all beginnings important? They had to start from _somewhere _after all.

Akihiko cleared his throat, face morphing into complete seriousness. His face was devoid of the playful demeanor he once held. "**Subsection One**, Chaos and hope, two very distinctive elements that must be kept in balance. They are the yin and the yang and the earth to the heavens. It was not always like this however. Soon, chaos started to rule in some places, and all peace in others. One day, The Fates decreed that for every unbalanced world or universe, there should be one and _one _alone to fix the mess by switching places with their 'fractured' soul piece. They are ultimately tasked with protecting the ones who will bring about world change, receiving a symbol to represent them. In turn, they receive a chance at new life." The book suddenly snapped shut and he let out a sigh.

"The rest I'll tell you myself." He elaborated at her bewilderment. "When they say 'fractured soul piece', they legitimately mean an actual portion of your soul. We have souls that have been split, so for examples sakes let's say half of you is here and the other isn't. Eventually the split part would have to merge with the other halves at _some _point. Now, for the record, as a gatekeeper, souls are rather _tricky _business."

"Huh?" She asked, propping her face on her hand. "Why's that?"

"For the people who die, it's my current job to judge their souls and make sure they get to the right place. Be it heaven or hell, they have to end up somewhere. And let me tell you the fuss they put up when I confirm where." Akihiko shaked his head with a sigh.

"And then there's me," she drawled out.

"And then there's you." He affirmed. "But as you can tell, if you were going to end up in either of those places, I would have done that and sent you on your merry way." The sarcasm didn't slip past her as she let out a laugh.

"So what? I'm just an irregularity? Not right for either place?" Immediately after she said it, Reina instantly felt wary of the smirk twitching on his lip.

"Funny you should say that, because that's the term for people like us."

"People like us?"

The smirk widened. "You know, the people with split souls?"

Her blood ran cold. "Excuse me?" _I swear to god, if he actually means..._

He slid the book over to her, and flipped it over, revealing a small mirrored surface in a jewel shape. "Our appearances always have the habit of changing in this place, to initiate the cycle of our next rebirth." His hand gestured to the glass, "go on, take a look Hisui-chan."

Reina glanced the side and was glad her skin and hair were the same. But... what could have...?

She gingerly picked up the book, feeling the smooth leather cover. When she peered up at her appearance, a single look was enough as the book slipped from her frozen fingers and dropped to the table with a thump. _What the hell.._

Her eyes were a teal mix of _j__ade. _Like a mesh of sea-blue and green.

"Freaky right? I used to have green eyes, but now look at me," Akihiko interjected as she sat there gapping like a fish out of water.

"How- that shouldn't- huh?!?" She was utterly flabbergasted. Her eyes were _gold, _not blue-green. "This doesn't look right," she admitted. _No wonder my eyes hurt, it was because the color was changing quickly._ _Right?_

"As I was saying, you my dear-" He pointed at her. "Are the next guardian of _peace and hope._"

Her heart dropped to the pits of her stomach at the weight of his words. Hairs raising on the back of her neck, she frowned. "But... that's not what _I _want." Wouldn't it be better to stay dead? Besides, babysitting some kids/teens and aiding them?

"Isn't it? We only receive this chance because we didn't live our lives to the fullest or died prematurely, and as a result, slowly overtime our souls fracture off into two halves." He gave her a genial smile. "All things come at a price, and life is a pretty big thing to restart, after all " Akihiko knew he was slowly changing her mind by the way she pursed her lips. "Oh and no pressure, but if you decide to say no, you'll be stuck here with me as a co- gatekeeper. That is, until the next guardian arrives and who knows how long that will take. And then _after _all that I'll have to judge your soul and stuff."

That was the last straw for her. She was _not _about to stay with some playboy gaurdian and wait for a long time to get a ticket to heaven. Or hell. _Maybe it could be nice._

"_Fine," _She muttered. "Alright, alright, I'll do it, no thanks to your guilt tripping." She gave him a heated glare that he paid no mind to.

"Perfect!" Akihiko clapped his hands. "Now, listen closely. We only have fourty minutes until the hell hounds come and close the gate and seal it shut."

"Umm question, what gate?" She had scanned the room twice, and she didn't exactly think the two hollow door frames counted as a gate.

He only shook his head again, turning away. "I'll show you later, we don't have time for that. For now, we're going to get your weapon situated and constructed." Already he was striding away to the wall in the far right.

"_Weapon?" _She said exasperated. _What's next, magic powers?_ She caught up with him quickly, feet padding against the clear flooring. When she reached the wall, she saw him reach for her hand to only place her palm against the strange wall. It had a bunch of circles of... elements?

Beside her, Akihiko started to quietly chant, tighting on her wrist. His eyelids were tightly screwed shut in concentration. He shifted her hand to each of the circles, grazing over the overlapping ones quickly. He turned to face her with eyes still closed, she stiffened when she felt his hand brush the side of her face, as if searching for something.

He pressed his thumb to her temple, quickly removed his hand as she gaped at the substance on his fingers, seeing him swipe the dark sangria over the wall in a wide arc.

Reina touched the side of her head, flinching at the feel of warm blood on her forehead and the sizzling noise occuring on the stone. It was weird to think about, with all the blood on her yet she was dead but still felt like she wasn't._ What a strange notion._ Her gaze drifted back to the chanting teen, hearing his voice slow to a stop. When he stepped back and let go of her wrist, he opened his eyes once more. "Finished," he muttered, throat dry of speaking for so long in ages.

She looked at the circles quizically, was her weapon just supposed to magically pop out? It may have absorbed her blood, but what would that achieve? An activation of some sort?

She turned to Akihiko but he had the biggest grin on his face, like he knew something he didn't. "I called it," He crowed silently, looking at the carved lightning bolt within the circle glowing a pale blue.

"Lightning? Is that my affiliation or something?" Asked Reina.

"Wait for it.." He said ominously but it only served to confuse her further.

"Wait for what..." She trailed off, leaning forward to try and inspect the marking. She stood still as something started to emerge from the ash grey surface. She hesitantly stuck her hand underneath it, waiting for something to fall out. When it did, a misty blue triangular gem popped out on her palm.

She picked it up between her thumb and index finger, feeling the crystal ridges. "What is this?" She gave it a quizical look, wondering how on earth was she supposed to protect herself with this triangle shaped thing.

"Oooh, nice!" Akihiko snapped his fingers with a grin. "It's not some outrageous color like I thought it would be!"

Color? Her eyes flashed with realization at the familiar words. "Wait..._ that's _why you asked what my favorite color was?! I didn't even say yes to being a guardian at the time!" What, so he just automatically knew she would agree?

"Somehow, I had a feeling you would, Hisui-chan."

"What does that even _mean_?!" She shouted, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"Hisui, you mean?" He laughed at her surrender, following her back to sit down and explain what the carving and the diamond shaped weapon meant. "'Hisui' means jade, in japanese with the combination of two characters. 'Hi' meaning 'Kingfisher' and 'sui' in this case meaning midori or kawasemi, or green. But it's a pretty rare name, so most people don't typically name their kids that anymore. I called you that because of the sea-jade tone in your eyes."

"Oh," She calmed down, pulling out a chair to sit down, placing the crystal near the old tome. "Hi..sui, it sounds kind of nice," she mumbled with a small smile. She didn't know it was because of her eyes, but it felt nice to have a nickname of some sort. "Thank you,"

He waved a hand. "No need to thank me yet, darling, we still have to register you for a weapon."

"Yeah, uh, what exactly _is _this actually?" She plucked it from the table with a raised brow. "Unless you want me to take someone's eye out then..." The point had a dangerous gleam to it, starting to crackle lightly.

"No,no! Don't do anything yet!" He shrieked, before sighing at his frayed nerves. "Most guardians have a weapon that also doubles as an A.I, their primary job is to guide, assist, and defend you."

"How?" Artificial intelligence? How did that work? He didn't exactly explain how she could defend herself with some pointy triangle.

"With magic of course!"

"...Your joking, right?" She jinxed herself clearly, why did she have to die so early? Magic? Guardians? Spirits and souls?

"Nope, everyone on planet earth has _mana_, a source of energy that comes from will power and the combination of physical and spiritual energy. Anyway, not every planet or world has this energy, some are just different sources, like chakra or chi." He explained. "Except, mana has a distinct condition, you must be close to death but still on the brink of survival. People long ago use to do this to awaken their power, some succeeded and others died early from attempts. Well, that _or _you could force it, but that's not a good idea."

"Why not?" This was interesting to her, as she had never actually seen actual magic before.

"Your linker core, the place mana circluates around will become strained, and you will suffer something similar to a heart attack, which means you may or may not survive. But take a look at this," Akihiko was unclasping his necklace, the dark blue spherical bead. He slid the cord of it, leaving just the jewelry. He grinned, calling out to it. "Wake up, Ren!" The gem shot up into the air and glowed with a dark blue sheen, blinding her momentarily.

**Yes master,** a low, male voice sounded softly.

The gem fell into his hand, only not as a bead, as a weapon. It was a long metallic staff with a wickedly sharp blade at the front that curved and had a slight light blue glow around it. The gem hadn't disappeared, it had instead been suspended in mid air inside the curved blade. The staff itself had a black ribbon tied at the end, signifiying his affliation.

He caught the weapon and twirled it, giving it a test swing and creating a large gust of air. He gave her a broad smirk at her stunned face, beckoning his head to the weapon. "Pretty cool, right Hisui-chan?"

She swallowed, casting her eyes down at the innocent looking item. "Yeah." She was at a loss for words. _One minute it was a small charm, and the next it's an actual weapon with a real blade._ _How unnerving. _She met Akihiko's eyes, "How can I activate this? You told him to 'wake up', but does that apply to my weapon as well?"

Akihiko swung Ren around again, stopping at her question. "Not necessarily, you still haven't registered." He unwillingly frowned at the hourglass and the time. _F__ifteen minutes left._

"Register?" _Oh yeah, he mentioned that before._

"Repeat after me and hold onto your gem tightly. It's imperative that you don't miss a single word of what I say, understood" He watched as she did it, nodding and drawing the jewel close to her chest. "Next?"

Akihiko inhaled, then let out a breath. "Repeat starting now; 'I am the one who has been given a mission."

"I am the one who has been given a mission," she repeated.

"Under this contract, release these powers onto me."

"Under this contract, release these powers onto me."

"Winds to the sky, stars to the heavens!" Akihiko said, watching the start of a magic circle appear underneath herand her new device glow. The circle was small, but it was gradually unfurling, runes and faint traces of symbols on them. _Good, the contract is almost complete._

"Winds to t-the sky, stars to the heavens!" She struggled to get out the words, hearing her heartbeats continuous thump grow louder in her ears. Reina had to fight the urge to clap her hands above her ears. She looked down to distract herself, only to gasp at the larger magic circle. Doing a double-take, she barely heard the next words.

"-nd the unyielding soul, to this heart! Magic to these hands-" He stopped, giving her the gesture to continue

N and d? "And the unyielding soul," She supplied, catching on to his train of thought. Her heart rate finally seemed to quiet, if by a bit. _Now I can focus_. "To this heart! Magic to these hands.." She faltered, the complex circle beneath her starting to waver.

_What do I say now? Didn't Akihiko's weapon have a name? So then what's yours then? _Reina glanced at the gem. If he/she could talk, then couldn't they say their name? Her eyes tore from the gem to Akihiko, who was biting his lip hard enough ti draw blood in anxiety.

**'Bardiche.'** She almost jumped, looking at the dimly glowing jewel. _Did you just... _A male, british accent just spoke within her mind. **Sir,** he interrupted as she felt her lower lid twitched, did she look male to him?! **'Activation code- 764322, registration *1. Requesting a new activation call!'**

"Activation call?" Now she was panicking. _what am I supposed to say?_

"Think of a password Hisui-chan! Your magic circle is starting to fade! Hurry!" He called out nervously.

_Lightning causes chaos, and disarray, right? But it also causes something beautiful when watching from faraway. _Her mouth opened with a small smile. "Bardiche, strike and assemble!" She held him out in front of her, watching as sparks of blue light emitted from it. **'Activation**** password complete'. **The intricate circle reassembled, more smaller circles blooming out of it.

**'Stand-by ready, set-up.'**

Bardiche shot up in the air like ren, twisting and slowly expanding in the pale light. When the light cleared, Bardiche was slowly falling from the air and her hand reached upwards to grab the weapon.

Bardiche was a silver metallic color, similar to Ren's tone. It was shaped somewhat like an axe, only there was no actual blade and it was curved into an angular shape. The gem had instead shaped into an orb, taking place inside the middle of the blade section that was a teal blue color. The staffs bottom was the same silver, only a bit darker. Wrapped around the end of it was a pure white ribbon, also marking her affiliation.

"Okay," she twirled it around and watched in excitement the way the small lightning bolts ricocheted of each other. "Now _this_ is cool!"

"Careful Hisui-chan, you don't know any spells yet so I would recommend you-" Akihiko dodged the bolt, a magic circle with a wave symbol springing up before him. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of ozone and sea-water. "_Not _do that." He sighed and waved his hand to remove the shield.

"Oops?" She brought down the weapon and held it to her chest with both arms, giving him an apologetic look at his slightly frizzed hair.

"Anyways, it's time for you to get going," He had walked off to return a minute later with the tattered book, the grimoire. "Here," he nodded to the book in his right hand. "I want you to have this. Inside is basically a helpers guide to potions, spells and general information about magic and such."

"I- thank you," she took it and ran her thumb over gold inscription. The name slowly faded and was replace with hers in fancy script. Two names, actually. "It's yours to keep now, I can also make another one."

_And how long would that take? _She smiled but it quickly faded at the second name. "Reina Santiago, and Haruno Sakura?" Why did that sound so familiar? She trailed after Akihiko who started to walk after him to the farthest wall, just north of them. _Sakura..Sakura, why does that sound familiar? _It shouldn't, because she had never heard of that name before. _What a flowery name._

"We're here!" They had reached the wall, only to see it draped over with a dark brown cloth. He tore it off, showing off the bright gate. Similar to the door frames, it was split into black and white, joining in the center to create a fade gray color. It was enormous, stretching out high above them to loom with a large shadow. Above and on the lock was a clock and bronze chains, decorating it with a sort of steampunk vibe to her.

"-eal it?"

She snaped out of it,hearing a buzz in her ears. "What?"

He explained, noticing her zoned out look. "I said, would you like to seal it? The grimoire, I mean." He knew she couldn't carry that around with her if she was being reborn.

"How?" Where would it even go?

"Repeat after me: Bardiche, sealing mode." He was turned away, busying himelf with the lock and copious amount of chains.

"Bardiche, sealing mode?" It came more along the lines of a question, but Bardiche understood nonetheless. The axe head flipped up 180 degrees and extended away from the handle, releasing four mana fins/blades (in an X-shape) at the neck, looking like a spear.

**'Sealing mode complete'**

She placed the book on the floor, pointing the battle-axe at the object. The book glowed a dark blue, streaming into the orb of her weapon. She gratefully smirked, tilting her head. "Thank you, Bardiche."

**'No problem.' **The A.I responded.

"Alright, c'mon Hisui-chan! I finally manged to open the god-damned thing!" Reina blinked at the sight before her. Akihiko was on the floor, practically covered with the dark chains and the silver clock shaped lock was mysteriously halfway across the room. She bent down, trying to unravel the chains and hold back her laughter.

He pouted. "Hisui-chan you're so mean! If your going to laugh, laugh." With those words he opened the floodgates, snickers bubbling out of her.

After a few laughs and sealed weapons later, they stepped infront of the now opened gate, clock hands and numbers floating within a white, blank, abyss.

"Welp, this is it!" Reina was standing at the very edge now, the triangular gem hanging on a dark grey cord. Her feet were just barely on the glass flooring and the chill of the white blankness creeped her out.

"Yeah.." She moved her head to look at him, but she saw him gaze at her with a softness. "Hey are you alright?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I just feel bad for you"

"Why's that?"

He lost the soft look and it was instantly replaced with a a cheshire grin that she squinted at. "Because-" he seemed to be refraining from laughter, slight chuckles. "You, pfff! Have to become a baby again! Hahahah!" Now that the shoe was in the other foot, he was going to enjoy this. _Immensely._

She, on the hand didn't find this funny, instead spluttering. _And I though he was going to say something nice! _"Oh screw you!"

"Anytime dear! You can always come back if you miss me~" He ducked under the right hook she gave him, peeking up at the slight redness of her face, showing only because of her paling skin color.

"Shut up," the teal eyed girl crossed her arms and scrunched up her nose in disdain. "It would be ten years too soon to see you again." she muttered.

"Aww, your no fun!" He grinned, standing closer to her. "Anyways, you better get going!"

See, there was a reason she never let people stand behind her. She was a lot more vulnerable there, seeing as she didn't have eyes at the back of her head.

But the moment he pushed her off the edge of the gate, she was thinking up all curse words known to man.

Oh boy... he was so _dead._"Akihiko!" she shouted upwards, seeing white cloud her vision, making the only thing visible the oddly colored gate and a blurry purple figure. Her body was sinking more and more, trembling with rage as she free fell with her white dress billowing around her. "You are so _dead _the next time I see you!"

There were too many contradictions in that sentence alone, but she was too angry to reword it properly.

Before she lost consciousness, she could have sworn she heard two voices.

_Good luck, she who bears the mark of lightning and hope. _Old and gravelly, a dark ancientness to it. It made her shudder

_I'm looking forward to it, Hisui-chan~ _ Akihiko...

_End._


	3. Familiar faces? Lurking suspicions!

**I'm back! And only have one thing to say.****Test's**** suck. And studying. Half of my time gone down the drain, when I really should have updated last week.** **Or maybe the week before that.**

**But**** alas, it simply wasn't meant to be.**

***Sweatdrop***

**...yeah, let's leave it at that.**

**But thank you for being so patient! **

**(I don't own Naruto or any other references)**

O.o.O

"I'm heading out now, Kaa-sama" A young voice said, a certain amount of childishness present in the five year olds tone. She was garbed in a dark red chinese-styled top with a hollow white circle embroidered on the back, sleeves flowing over her small hands and wrists. Black tights stopped at her calves followed by flat, white sandals. A similar headband adorned her head, framing her face with short rose coloured bangs.

"Come back a second! Take some money if you wish to eat out or buy something." A blonde woman called faintly, followed by a strained cough.

"Kaa-sama?" The girl turned, looking past the threshold, gripping the white painted door. Her concern was still present even as her mother waved her off as she approached, crouching.

"Don't worry, you wanted to go to the library, yes? Then go have _fun. _I can take care of myself. It's not strenuous to do flower arrangements and calligraphy you know." She said gently with a joking tone, pausing her actions with a faint laugh. She gestured to the small red coin pouch resting on the side to which the pink-haired girl picked up. When green eyes met her sea-green, she surveyed the girl, seeing something off. More specifically, her eyes which were lined with a dark curve against her lid in a swept motion.

It wasn't a style she knew of, because it was usually applied to be a thin line or curve, not cat-like. _And she has hints of red powder at the far corner of her eyes. _It was subtle, and you couldn't tell it was there unless you looked hard enough.

"Haruno Sakura, what is that on your face?" Meruna arched a thin blonde brow at her daughter. The brow raised higher at the sound of her throat clearing, lips turning downwards.

"Okaa-sama, I have no clue what your talking about." She said with a smirk, standing on the balls of her feet and rocking back and forth with a high-pitched whistle. Her sleeve was held in front of her face to hide the look on it.

_Busted._

"Sakura sweetie, are you self-conscious about how you look? Is that why you wear it? Or wait-" Meruna's smile became teasing, playfully nudging her on the shoulder lightly. "Is there a boy you want to impress~? Hmm~?"

Sakura pushed her mother away lightly, trying to hide the small flinch from from her implications. Shaking her head to the side, she answered. "I don't have time for things like that." She bit the inside of her cheek and cast her eyes down to the forest green rug of the living area.

"There's always time for love!" Her mother had hearts in her eyes with stars with a grin on her red painted lips. Her hands were clasped under her chin as she looked off into the distance with a dreamy sigh and blush. Her previous qualms about her makeup long forgotten.

"...Right." Sakura said uncertainly at her dreamy nature with thinly veiled concern._There she goes again._ The pink haired girls expression soured as her eyes fell on a family photo of a woman, a man, and their own child. Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Her eyes trailed over her kimono and workspace in their living room. Turqoise eyes narrowed at the glass bottle shaped jar of ink, which was a little too close for comfort. "Kaa-sama?"

"Yes dear?" Her mother asked, picking up the brush from it's stand and dipping it in the dark ink bottle, just slightly. She hummed a light tune and continued her light strokes, smiling at the fine writing.

"You might spill-"

The slightest movement of her arm shifting caused the dark green silk kimono sleeves to brush against the ink, splashing against the white and olive underlayers.

"That." Sakura sighed, moving the glass bottle away only to cringe at the amount of ink spilled on her clothing.

"Huh?...oh." The blonde woman blinked in surprise, watching her daughter eye the bottle, lightly twirling it to see the black swirl insde the glass. Then she pointedly arched a brow, glancing down at the dark stain. She peeked down to see what she was staring at, gasping at the sight with disappointment.

"Oh no! I had just bought this too." She frowned, lifting up her arm only to see it drip onto the faded white paper, ruining her elaborate brush strokes. She sighed, getting up to clean up her mess. Before leaving, she this time gave a pointed mock-glare to the girl at her advance to clean up the stray drops.

"Get going and please, for the love of _Kami _Sakura, _stop_." Right now her daughter was in the midst of observing the flower arrangement curiously, blinking and tilting her head to the side with narrower eyes, due to the liner. _Although she doesn't like being called cute, she's just so adorable! _She stifled a giggle by her sleeve, hiding the wide smile on her painted lips.

She took in how Sakura bounded to the door after adding something to the arrangement that she couldn't see due to where she was standing and placing the bottle down on the table. Before exiting, she spun around, hip jutted to the side with one hand placed on it, a smirk tugging on her lips.

"Kaa-sama, if I didn't know any better, or if I were someone else, I would think you're trying to be rid of me." Sakura said, eyes flashing with mischief.

Her mouth parted, stunned. But before she could reply, she closed it at her next words.

Sakura leaned against the door frame, foot resting on it. She looked up at her spot between her home and the rest of the world, crossing her arms and feeling strangely thoughtful. _Boundaries..._ "But then again..." Her pursed lips curled upwards into something akin to a smile, but not quite.

In the end she just shook her head to the side. "Never mind," it came out as a muttered whisper, but she still heard her. With those final words, she finally turned to leave, the door faintly clicking as it locked with a quiet goodbye.

A small smile worked it's way to her mouth as she shook her head with fondness. _Well, she has always been rather mature for her age._ _And smart. _"Honestly, who taught her those words?"

She walked back to the foyer and passed by the living room. But then she remembered something Sakura put next to the arrangement. With curiosity in her veridian eyes, she bent down carefully to avoid the rest of the greenery from her ink soaked sleeve. She brushed aside the aged paper for her calligraphy only to see something written on the corner of the page.

Her daughter(as much as they really didn't want to admit this)had really, _really _bad handwriting.

_Kaa-sama, I hope you don't mind but I thought it felt right to put in there._

_Feel free to remove if it looks bad._

In between the different clusters of flowers and delicately trimmed stalks she set it on the low table gently, smiling at the flower placed among her arrangement. Between the varying shades of blues and buttercup yellows, placed next to it was her notebook opened to a certain page with a different shaded flower beautifully presented in a rose pink.

Meruna couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face at her daughter's gesture and the familiarity of her messy handwriting.

_Why would I remove this?_

_Azalea ; a flower of temperance and self-care._

O - O - O -O

_Bardiche, why have I been feeling so strange lately? No- _Sakura weaved nimbly through the crowd of people bustling in subdued annoyance. Why did it have to be so crowded in the mornings?_-these past few years? And that's saying something, considering I've only been **alive **in this place a few years?_

**Sir-**

Sakura bit her lip to surpress a groan as she walked faster to her destination. It was around eleven, so just before noon. The library typically opened at varying times each morning, so it was a hit-or-miss kind of thing. But on the subject of missed swings, (in this case misled insults about her gender) four years and he still had a habit of speaking so archaically. _If you don't mind me_ _asking, how__ old are you?_

**I..** His automated voice seemed to falter and take something she could place as thoughtful, but still monotonous. And really, he didn't have to be that way, she was just joking. _Why is he always so literal?_

**I am the same 'age' as you, but I don't age in a similar fashion to you, I simply 'exist'.**

Her stomach churned as she slowly stopped walking. _Oh, but on the subject of existing, can you explain my other question, please?_

**Yes sir. **He started, as she closed her eyes briefly, before opening them once more. She slowed down from her brisk steps and spotted the white stone library steps just in front of the dark brown building. They were pretty big and wide, so she sat down on the farthest side as to not get into anyone's way. In turn, she decided to also ignore everyone staring at her oddly as they exited and entered respectively.

Sakura sunk back against the railing, bringing her one of her legs up under her chin tightly with her arm and leaving the other just dangling off the other pristine step.

_...So? What's up with me? _She questioned. What she had been feel lately was strange. This would _sound _normal, but it really wasn't. What Sakura had been feeling for the past few years was just...there really wasn't a way _to _explain it either.

**It's rather simple, you passed at seventeen, correct? My data shows that you were seventeen and 3 months, 21 days and-**

_I'm not even going to ask how you know all of that stuff, but actually wait- A.I, how could I forget? _Of course he would have information on her. _P__lease continue. _Sakura sighed, than took a deep breath.

**Time has stopped for you Sir, and while your body is currently that of a child, your own _soul _is not.**

_I...I don't follow, what do souls have anything to do with this?_

**Your souls must match frequencies Sir, no matter the body you have. On the topic of that, you don't really have two souls, but instead one split one.**

_Right, Akihiko mentioned that. _Souls split and born through regret and tragedy, was what he said. Sakura's expression became unreadable, by the blankness of her sea coloured eyes. _How depressing_. Her head tilted to look at the cyan blue sky. A sudden thought came to mind, but Bardiche seemed to acknowledge that it was private and stayed silent. Something wasn't adding up. She could barely remember the Akihiko telling her this, but it still crept up to the forefront of her mind. He had said that there were two bodies. Because if this was her other body, then what happened to her other _mind_. A chill spread through her body when she felt a slight breeze blowing past her. _What is going on? _This wasn't making sense.

_Continue, Bardiche._

**As I said, when both bodies reach the age of seventeen, the feeling you can sense will leave you. The tugging motion you always feel in chest will become more and more.. _pulling _when you reach the age of eight and a half.**

_Eight and a half? Isn't that half of seventeen? _Her face twisted into contemplation. _Tell me, will the process speed up more as I get older?_

**Yes it will. **She winces at that. He didn't cut corners did he? It was hard enough to ignore it now, but it would become _worse_? **After**** the age of eight, you will have to take potion suppressants, so I hope you find the _grimoire _quickly, lest your life become more painful.**

A...book? A dark blue tattered book sprung from her thoughts as she lurched forward from her position in shock. "Wait a second, but it's stuck inside the jewel." She said quietly, trying to reign in her surprise as she just remembered the leather-bound artifact. She quickly got up to walk inside the building, only to stop to hear her weapon's words.

**After you fell through the gate- **more like after Akihiko _pushed_ her, she snorted. **-everthing you once owned or acquired was split, separated. Your soul and your device, the gem, were those primary things.**

"But that doesn't make sense, why would everything be split?" She pondered, leaning against the side of the building but then started pacing along the concrete steps. She turned back again, struggling to pronounce her thoughts into japanese. It wouldn't be smart of her to voice it out in a language everyone knew either. In the beginning, it was _hard._ Hell, it still was at times because if how difficult retaining languages was. She tried to run phrases of each language everyday, but that still didn't help.

Sakura also sucked at writing in _kānji _and _hīrigana. _

"_Splitting. Why is everything split off into black and white? Light and dark? Chaos and hope? Why is there no gray area? For those who maybe act wicked and simply playing a part? What then?" _Sakura knew her questions were getting off topic, but she hadn't a chance to speak so freely in _ages._

She spun around again, this time deciding to go inside the library. Her eyes flicked to a nearby clock. _Around 12-ish.__"You know what Bardiche? I think I would fit into a grey area, but actually nevermind that. What's this about suppression potions?" _If she kept getting off track, they would be getting nowhere. Her body was on autopilot at this point as she asked the question. Her hand reached for the door to jump back at the sound of a door slamming and her body being shoved aside.

"Get out of the way brat!" Sakura's eyes widened and tried to grasp for something to hold onto but the railing was no where in sight. Her eyes closed as she twisted her body backwards to turn around and stop her descent. She actually would have fallen if it weren't from something yanked her body backwards in a gentle yet firm motion.

Her eyes cracked open and narrowed as they followed upwards at the pale wrist holding her own.She straightened herself and didn't look up, only bowing at the stranger. Inwardly cursing at the loud brash voice that had pushed her. "Thank you." She muttered. It was her own fault for pacing in front of a _library _of all things.

She really needed to get her priorities straightened out.

"It's no problem, are you alright?" a quiet voice said, it was male, but at the same time a bit...shy? No that wasn't it. _Polite_, she decided on as she looked up at the boy and her face morphed into something of confusion.

He had long black hair that was pulled into a ponytail and had strands framing his face. He had alabaster skin and dark black eyes, along with the startings of tear troughs. Her gaze drifted to his forehead, a navy blue band and a strange symbol etched or scratched on. That didn't bother her but something nagged at her in her head. She chewed on her inner lip.

Why did he look so...

"Are you okay?" He asked, watching her purse her lips in deep thought and furrowing her light pink brows.

"Familiar," Sakura whispered, staring at him deeply before snapping out of it, pink tresses swaying to the side._ Staring is rude, _she reminded herself. "I'm fine," she said, sliding her arm out of his grip.

He only nodded, seeing her preoccupation. "I see, then I will be going now." Her eyes dropped to the lone book in his right hand _-Element chak-wa? And it's blah blah Forms-. _She couldn't read it further and then scrunched up her faceHis back turning caught her attention and it was then she noticed a strange mark on the back of his shirt for a brief second before his tied hair concealed it again.

"What's chakra?" She questioned out, watching him turn back around. She closed her mouth with an audible click at his chuckle as he walked back up to her, form towering at least a few feet above her.

His orbs lingered on her, indulging her question. "Chakra is the manifestation of physical and spiritual energy." He bent down in front of her, "do you want to become a ninja?" She almost reminded him a little of Sasuke and his eagerness to learn.

Her eyes flashed with recognition. "Nin...ja?" _So familiar, why? _She had heard the phrase tossed around the village so many times, but that's not why it was familiar to her. Living in this place..was always giving her a strange sense of dêja-vu. This place was so _outdated _and gave her the vague feeling she was living in Japan at it's earliest time, or _something._ That was originally why she wanted to visit the library in the first place, to gain information.

It's official. When she died Akihiko was going to get it from her. _What the hell was I thinking, agreeing to something like this?_ Was she really that desperate to live?

"I'm not sure," she finally answered. Thick tension ran through the air, the temperature seemingly dropping on the rather bright day. His tone turned deadly serious, black orbs dulling. "Becoming a kunoichi or Shinobi is not for the faint of heart, so choose well." He wasn't going to sugarcoat his words, that would get her nowhere. He knew that better than anyone, and was certainly _not _about to drag another child into this lifestyle.

_Not for the faint of heart, huh?_ Sakura exhaled. Her mother had never mentioned the subject, why was that? She had seen first hand the powers they had in their possession. The elements bended to their will, along with things like cloning or teleportation. The possibilities would be _endless._

But at the same time she knew why her mother wouldn't say anything.

Her mother had always told her she was frail from birth due to constant illness, and if it wasn't said in a bad way, almost a bit weak. And when she meant that she was referring to her constitution. In a similar way, her mother was _strong._ She owned a seamstress shop, and worked as well as she could, stopping from time to time. Meruna knew when to stop and when to lie down and rest, but Sakura sometimes had to persuade her into doing that. She usually jokingly said that she was more like the mother out of the two of them and made a face at that when she said no way.

It was always just them and no one else.

"-ay?"

Sakura shifted her eyes to the pale boy in front of her at the sound of his voice. She blinked once as he began to speak again as he noticed her attention on him.

"Some in this world do not have a choice of what they want to be, or what they make of it. Stay true to your own beliefs." He reiterated, eyes softening towards the girl. Her exotic eyes settled on him, slowly nodding in assent.

"I understand," She bowed again out of sheer politeness. Sakura bit her lip in thought. "And thank you." _Make what I want to make of it? _It was pretty sound advice, one that she would follow. She wouldn't let just anyone tell her what to do.

When she saw a small smile quirk on his face and she had a feeling he didn't do that much. It was just the corner of his mouth twitching upwards, but it was still something. Sakura tried to hide the small smirk on her face, using her crimson bell-like sleeves. "Then I'll be taking my leave now."

She felt him pat her rose-colored hair and her turquoise irises shot up to meet onyx eyes that had crinkled upwards as well.

"I wish you good luck on your endeavors then." Itachi offered politely.

"Believe me, I think I'm going to need it." Sakura murmured, shaking her head at her lack of plans. _I'm going to need to get started soon. And first things first..._

Welllll _actually..._

"Excuse me?" She called seeing his back turn around with curiosity. "What is your name?" She should have asked sooner.

He answered nevertheless. "..Uchiha... Uchiha Itachi."

Sakura immediately felt warning bells blaring in her head but she pushed it away. Her eyes sharpened at him. Who was he? _Itachi? Where have I heard that? _It was one thing to think a _face _was familiar, but a name was a whole other story. Her own name emerged from her lips quieter than she expected but was cut off.

**Sir? **She flinched lightly at the sudden ringing in her head. **My apologies, but ****I am detecting a wall in memory. I am not currently capable of removing it due to the fact that you have not yet acquired access to your neither mana storage nay linker core.**

One phrase that stuck out to her most was 'acquiring access to her mana'. But she had to focus. "Haruno," She eyed Itachi warily. "Haruno Sakura."

When she saw him leave, his hair swishing to the side with every step. In turn, she saw a strange symbol embroidered similarly to her own. _A red and white fan? _Or at least, that's what it looked like to her. The top was a deep red that seemed to be split from the white bottom half. _Is that his clan symbol?_

Tiltling her head to her head to the side, Sakura couldn't help but notice one thing that made her laugh a bit. _His symbol kind of looks like a ping-pong __racket!_

Quiet snickers left her lips even more as she slipped through the door.

~O-O-O-O~

"Back to square one." _Clearly this was a bad idea, I can't read half of these symbols! _The book in question was a light tan, kanji and other symbols scattered across the cover.

Sakura leaned on the palm of her hand, watching the clock tick. When she had come here, she had full intention of finding something that gave her a clue about where she was, but so far she had no such luck. Now what was she supposed to do? Speaking a language was so different compared to writing it out. _I could ask for help... _her eye twitched at the librarian shouting at some teenager wearing a similar headband to the one she had sewn before. _Nevermind._

"And why the hell is this written so strange?" She muttered, touching the yellowed paper. Japanese was written vertically, which threw her her off a bit. She was so used to writting _horizontally _and not _vertically_. She slumped back in her chair, opening her thoughts to her weapon, who was being oddly silent.

_Bardiche? You said your main functions were to guide and assist. _Her brows knitted as she flipped through pages. _Isn't there some way you can help me?_

**You need only ask, **she heard him intone. **What is it you require of me?**

Sakura sighed, shutting the book with a snap. _It's my memory, I can't do anything like this. How can I remember anything here when I can only try to keep what should be long forgotten?_

**Sir, if you were having problems with memory as of late, you could have switched places with me.**

_Switch...places? _What was he talking about? _That's- what?! _Sakura became alert. _Switch..switch with you in what way?_

**Switching in the sense of minds temporarily, Sir. I have the ability of scanning and processing information easier than most types, due to your lightning affiliation.** **This has a limit though, only once a** **year.**

_Hold on, I happen to think that my memory is getting worse because of too many memories. And now your saying I should have it easier now? _She thought with a frown. Lightning affiliation sure as hell wasn't helping her now. _What makes it easier for you then?_

**Simply put, Sir****, **he meant no offense to his Master when he spoke. **I have access to what you do not... power.**

Power? Something started clicking in her mind, gears shifting. That's right, mana was considered the main power source in their terms. _Then how do I get access to it?_

**I believe Akihiko had informed you, but have you forgotten? In that case, I shall go more in-depth. Mana is unlocked through ****_will, _as you may already know_. _There are limitations, however. This power must first be taken when you are on the brink of death, but your mind makes the connection to your heart, _wanting _the strength to see a new dawn.**

_But why death? What if I don't live? _She was sure the chances of living were 50/50 on this. And it made sense too. But couldn't there be other ways? A chill ran down her spine, she couldn't just _die _again, she had only just started living again.

**Sir, many minds are opened during that time, to see if they are worthy of it. I suppose you could say, death provides startling clarity to some. Besides that, you need not fret, Sir. I am sure you are more than capable of facing your judgement.**

_Judgement? You mean when I...die? _She tried to shuffle through her memories at that. _Right, that's when I die, I remember now._

**You are mistaken in that sense, there is the judgement of power, but also the final one. In your judgement call for power, you will face yourself and every aspect _of _yourself. Your own mirror reflections. The seven deadly sins. **Oh, so _that's _were it comes from.

_Seven versions of myself? Let's see, pride, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, sloth, and lust. _How would that play out, a series of seven tests? She questioned herself on that until he spoke again.

**Now, are you ready to begin?**

_Sure, do I need to do anything?_

**No, just clear your thoughts and relax, similar to meditation. Breath in, breath out, that's it. **Her eyes had fallen shut, covering her face with her arms and feeling cold, smooth wood beneath her hands. **Focus on nothing yet everything.**

As strange as the contradiction was, it was similar to viewing life through peripheral vison. Focused on nothing yet everything.

**Now..._awaken._**

There was just something about the way he said it, and it made her head feel ten times heavier, _drowsy_. Her breath became labored, as if she was in a deep sleep. Her mind was slowly detaching from her body and a new one filling it. A strange feeling tugged her thoughts back, making her feel like taking a nice, long, nap. Bardiche slowly inserted his mind through her person, feeling the steady thrum of his/her heartbeat. Sakura lifted her head, bangs covering her eyes. When her head tilted, an icy aquamarine replaced her eyes instead of her normal sea-green.

She got up from the sleek sectioned desks at the back of the library. Bardiche delved deeper into the shelves, seeing the 'language and literature' section. She reached up, grabbing a book and opening it to the front page.

Eyes flashing, her eyes glowed eerily with a misty hue. She kept the book open, flipping the pages quickly. Her eyes had reflected the information in a holographic fashion. Words bouncing back and forth, her eyes copied everything they saw on it. When she was done, she picked up the next one, doing the same thing and repeated the process.

Bardiche suddenly stopped, feeling his/her head throb. **"I**** suppose I should stop now," **he/she mused, taking in to account the age of this body. Their minds wouldn't be able to retain to much of this, so it would have to be released gradually.**"Too much of anything is never a good thing."**

"**Now..._reset."_**

The real Sakura jolted, dropping the book. Her mind shuffled hers forward, body automatically reseting with a different concious. She hunched in on herself, feeling a strange chill over her body. She suddenly didn't feel like sleeping anymore, only _cold. _It felt like mere seconds, but it was apparently ten _minute_ when she gazed at the clock again.

She was _never _doing that again and and he could count on that.

Sakura shuddered, fingers tightening around the binding of the book. Even with the long sleeves, she felt cold. She shook her left hand, curling it into a fist then uncurling it.

**Sir? Are you alright?**

"Just _peachy_," The pinkette gritted out, practically slamming the book into the proper shelf. Walking out of the library, she leaped off the stone steps and felt the warmth of the sun on her back. "That's a lot better." Taking a deep breath, she asked the question nagging at her._ Bardiche, what was that?_

It was as if he had compelled her to sleep, only he had used the word 'awaken'. _Last I checked, awakening means to wake up, not fall asleep._

**You awakened your _mind_, do you feel rejuvenated? Well rested?**

Sakura paused, cold drifting of her skin from the sun. If she ignored the chill every now and then, she did feel good._ Yeah,__ I guess so. _Sakura kept a steady walk as she browsed through the different vendors. Some sold foreign dishes, some sold wooden and glass jewelry, and others had metal workshops, heat beaming down on the village from above. Happy cries of children filled her ears as she moved out of the way for some, watching the way their parents scolded them.

When she looked up, she could see the carvings just atop the hillsides. Sakura didn't know if they had mountains on the other side or anything, but it looked that way. Depicted on it were four faces, every one of them having a manner of spiked hair but the first (or maybe it was just the rock type?).

She turned streets, admiring the way the place looked as a whole. Her ears picked up a faint jeering sound as she walked faster. There was a large cluster of people surrounding the outside of a street vendor. She bit back a yelp when a shove pushed her forward. Claustrophobia ran through her, pushing the other people away from her. _I hate crowds, maybe I should just leave. _When she turned to leave, she only felt herself being completely closed off by swarms of shouting citizens.

_"Get out of my shop demon! And take the mask with you!" _The sound of a cracking mask and a cry of pain alarmed her. _What's going on?_

_"Leave him alone demon brat!"_

_"What a pitiful child," _the mutterings of a woman nearby caught her attention. Demon? Was there actually supernatural beings existing in this village? She twisted around, curiosity winning over logic. She inched forward slowly and cringed in pain at the sensation of someone steping on her foot. She extended her arms and slipped through the throngs of people, grateful for her short stature. She stumbled slightly, foot catching in a rock and making her fall forward combined with someone elbowing her in the side. Her hand shot to her stomach and fell, face-planting on the ground.

With a groan, she sat up to rub the dust out of her eyes and smearing the powder across her lids. When Sakura's eyes finally opened, they widened in surprise and disbelief at the person before her.

"But how-now way- this can't- _what?!!?"_

Aqua-green and cerulean clashed.

_I'm going crazy._

_No__ way in hell is this real._

The small blonde with a blooming shiner on his left eye and telltale whisker marks made her rethink everything. Her eyes fell on the ironically cracked porcelain fox mask on the ground.

_Uzumaki Naruto,_ her mind whispered helpfully.

_What have I gotten myself into?!? _Sakura screamed internally, cursing her stupidity.

_End._


	4. Taking a step forward? Or maybe back?

**Summer is ****here-**

*******P****auses with a grimace* _ugh._**

-**And the amount of times I had to rewrite this was not funny.**

_**(... this ****hasn't been the best time for me, with all the writers block.)**_

**(I don't own Naruto or any references)**

**Have I mentioned how much I hate summer?**

O.o.O

Naruto's eyes widened in tandem with the girls, regarding her with apprehension and a small blush.

He watched her shake her candy colored hair, eyes darting to the cracked mask near him and to his face, lingering on the six even strokes of black. Her strange toned orbs clashed with sea-blue.

Who was she?

Sadness washed over him as he saw her take a step back, or rather, scooted away from him just barely. His sharp teeth sunk into his lip, anger replacing the twisting feeling in his heart. Why? The blondes hand reached to cover the blooming mark on his eye from the mask. Suddenly, looking down at himself, he seemed a lot dirtier than he felt. Paint was slowly drying and crusted over his beige shirt. His hair now an ashen blonde than it's usually sunny yellow, due to the flecks of red that smells metallic(read:blood) and dirt.

"No way," he could hear her say. His brows knit, no way what? No way that he was a demon? Yeah, right he thought bitterly. He could feel the gazes of the adults looking at him blankly or with anger and disgust. The looks branded his skin daily, like the whisker marks on his face. He clenched the dirt on the ground into a tight fist.

But that didn't matter.

He would show them all.

_Mark my words, because I'll become Hokage._

He had to.

~O-O-O-O~

No.

No. No. Nonononono. What had she gotten herself into?

She knew the person in front of her all too well, even if they didn't exactly know her.

Uzumaki Naruto was a blonde that was labeled for something he didn't even know about and had absolutely no control over, making their actions completely unjustified because of it. On top of that, he was a _child_. Not some hyperactive knucklehead ninja yet. Seeing him all vulnerable on the ground, eyes down cast and lips formed into a frown, made her feel sick. She could hear the civilians shouts increase, and the vendor yelling things she wouldn't dare repeat out loud. Her stomach twisted and her head pounded, catching a glance at his cornflower blue irises once more.

_Just a child,_ her mind whispered. A child harboring a nine-tailed, Earth shattering _fox_.

The last time she had even seen this show, was when she was around seven years old. She remembered bits and pieces of it(she had stopped at around episode forty). It wasn't much, but she still knew a few things. That show was her most favorite thing in the world, until her step-father had forbade her from watching it ever again, saying that she was wasting her time watching things like that and should be studying. Of course, her mother had been told differently that such amounts of violence would taint her 'impressionable' mind.

But that was the past, and would be staying there if she could help it.

And it was, but..._if that was the case, why this particular world? Because of personal attachment?_ Her face softened at the skittish boy in reassurance. What now?

**Simple enough, Sir. Complete the mission provided. Would this boy be getting in the way of that?** Sakura shook her head to the side. That was a too broad a question, and only time could tell. **The choice is yours, Sir, I can only follow behind.**

_You.._ the hesitation was clear in her thoughts, _we're..partners, right?_

**Yes sir.** He voiced lightly. **I am to guide and assist, your weapon until the last ****tick of Chronos' clock.**

Sakura slowly got up shakily, rubbing her side. The crowd turned silent, staring at the girl with rose-colored hair. What she did next was completely unexpected, and even the surly vendor was losing his composure.

Kids were always cute when shy. There was no doubt about it.

_Time to turn on the charm, _she thought dryly.

"E-excuse me?" Sakura said, brushing off the dust on her top. She clasped her hands together, bowing at the man. Her voice rose in pitch, becoming more childish. "M-may I have two mask's?" Her eyes scanned over them. They were nice mask's, and made out of carefully crafted porcelain. Some halved, others fully shaped in scary likenesses of different animals.

Sea-jade fell to the fox mask on the ground. It was hauntingly beautiful, with it's dark red strokes on the corners of its face and eyes. The ears were long and pointed, filled with the same crimson as lined on the eyes. A black swirl that looked like an upside down question mark was poised between the eyes, three rows of small red dots in each side. Crack's started to split from above it's hollow eyes, traveling down it's angular face, making it appear more sinister.

What unnerved her the most was the smirk painted on its mouth streching across widely.

_The mask is clearly expensive, so why would he just toss it away? Because of how it looks?_ Sakura thought. She cocked her head to the side. _Come to think of it, it is kind of creepy looking._

**Sir, may I inquire something?**

_Ask away._

**You seem to know that human, but he does not know of you. Can I ask as to why that is?**

She nodded at the vendor who asked as to which ones she wanted on the wall so he could bring it down. Pointing, she received it and surveyed the mask in her hands. _It has something to do with my past life, so I'll explain when we get home. And then you can explain the supression potions you were talking about._

**Yes Sir. **Bardiche agreed.

The mask would only cover half of her face, curving over her nose. It had dark blue paint forming the visage of a smirking cat. Gold spiraled it's cheeks, and lined the eyes that were narrowed.

Her eyes shifted back to the man in front of her, hardening at the sight of his actions. _How disgusting._"-What else would you like, Miss?"

She unclasped the pouch and placed a some bills on the table, unsure if it was enough. "That's it." Sakura said, reverting back to her normal persona. She didn't need much else. _But him on the other hand..._

"But didn't you say-" He cut off at his eyes gleamed in greed at the amount before sneakily eying her purse unkown to her. _She's wearing some fancy clothing, and she's a brat. I doubt she even understands how much she's giving me. _He would be a fool if he didn't take it. _And by the looks of it, she has a lot more._

But what would some noble brat be doing hanging with the demon?

"That's it, because I-," reaching down to pick up the object, dusting of the dirt. "-am taking this as well." She flashed the mask behind her before walking to the small boy. She hefted him to his feet, seeing shock ripple through his features. "Let's go." she muttered, dropping her hand to tug his wrist.

"W-what are you-!?"

"Let's go somewhere." She said, dragging him away from the now desolate streets.

She didn't care.

And as she left, a lone old woman stood outside her shop, watching the exchange with sharp eyes. Her eyes closed, taking a deep breath before opening with a icy white glow.

_That girl, I sense it something strange within her..._

She could hear the wind blow gently as her lips turned into a frown. _Does she have it?_

O-O-O-O

"U-umm..."

Sakura stopped swinging, teal eyes peering at the boy with a scrutiny. _He's so quiet, _she mused, seeing his face turn away from her for the umpteenth time. Not at all what she expected of someone that seemed so boisterous to others. She had taken him to the park, and all he was doing was staring at either the mask or her. She pursed her lips at the cuts on his hands, eyes flicking to the bruise on his face. Releasing the chain, she got up from the swing with an idea.

"Wait here a sec, I'll be back."

With his eyes trailing after her, she disappeared from sight.

When she returned, she came back with a small kit and an ice pack. She kneeled in front of him, not seeing his eyes widening at her.

She placed the box on the ground and opened it, taking out a small cotton swab and some a bottle of something clear.

"Fair warning," She starts, watching him back away in fear and confusion. "This might sting a bit." Sakura warned.

"I..I know." He said softly as piercing sea-jade snapped up to him. He shrunk back at the flash of rage in her eyes, sighing.

"Well, what do you know," Sakura muttered at him. "So you can talk." Gingerly taking his hand she inhaled with a sharp hiss, inspecting his bloody hand.

_Maybe he doesn't even need my help._

Unnoticed by him, she could see his skin starting to bubble up and stitch together with a faint tinge of red in it's wake, leaving behind only freshly renewed flesh. It was still raw, but it started to regain a hint of his normal tan. Her lips parted in awe at the sight. _It's amazing how he can heal so easily. _The fox was clearly helping him, but that made her question something. _This is such a minor injury, and sure it could turn into an infection.. _

Pausing, she glanced upwards once more in consideration. That was it, she had already said it herself.

It was a _minor_ injury.

So maybe...

_Lil' ol' foxie is getting soft? _

Shaking her head with a snort, she returned the items to the kit and instead brought out a roll of linen bandages. She shoved the ice pack on his hand with a "put this over your eye" and when she wanted a pair of scissors there were none.

"Ugh," She groaned, "just my luck." Guess she would just have to make do. She carefully wound them around the already healing skin, making sure to not make it too tight. Next she tore the bandage with her teeth with a sharp yank, threads fraying almost instantly. It ripped clumsily and she knotted the ends together.

Sakura's lips tugged upwards. _Decent enough, right? _Sakura thought, surveying her handiwork. Glancing at her hands, she jolted in rememberance. _Wait a second, how do I still remember how to do that?_ Knitting her brows, she bit her tongue. Her memory worked strangely at times.

Most of the time, she couldn't remember things on her own even if she _wanted _to. The little things had to jog it, and even then that wouldn't make sense. From what she _remembered _(no pun intended) about how memory worked, memories were sorted into long-term and short-term, other categories and then muscle memory. Since it was an _ability_ she learned how to do, it would be counted as muscle memory, right? But since this was her body(sorta), it shouldn't transfered to _this _one because she learned it in her other one.

It was an interestingly enough, something she should look into._ I'll come back to that later,_ she thought, pushing it away.

Rising to full height, she observed him. _No other injuries__, but a bit dirty. _

All she wanted now was a hot shower, and she could bet her life he wanted the same.

There were scuff marks and dirt matted on his clothes and taking a closer look at herself she didn't appear to be looking so good either. She swept a hand over her qipaō in an attempt to magically make a clean.

It didn't work.

She was dead.

She huffed while Naruto stared at her, perplexed by the sudden change.

Noticing him, Sakura sighed. "It's nothing." At his hesitant nod, she fought back a groan. _I'm no good wih kids. _"So," plopping back down on the ground, she tilted her head. "What's your name?"

His cheeks suddenly puffed out, taking her by surprise. "Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it because I'm going to be Hokage someday!"

Guess she wasn't a threat to him, by the way he was so readily spouting out his dream to her. Sakura nodded at his words, seeing his face turned stunned. Because really, it's not like he couldn't become Hokage, anybody could._ It's going to be especially hard though, _she felt bad suddenly. _Since he has a furry problem._

Is he only this way to people who are nice to him? He was shouting up a storm at the man earlier but stopped when he was called a monster.

_Because I fixed him up? _

A beat passed, then: "What your's?"

Cocking a brow, she challenged him. "It's 'what's your's," Sakura corrected. "But guess." She was curious to what he would come up with. She got up, walking over the soft grass. She could hear him trail after her, what, with the loud rustling of grass.

"Saki?"

"No."

"Hana?"

"Nope."

"...Tsubaki?"

A pause, before she glanced up from the large flowers she was picking. "Are you going to keep guessing flower names?" Tsubaki was a nice name, but it wasn't hers. She knew it would throw him off if she said that, seeing as hers is one.

"Amaya?"

"Try again."

"Izumi?"

She shook her head.

"Akari?"

The game continued for the next few minutes. With him rattling off every name he could think of for a girl and her sitting there saying no. Anyone could tell he wasn't giving up that easily, so he kept at it. He knew there was at least _one _name out there that was hers.

"Want me to say it?" She said, not taking her eyes off the flowers for a second.

Naruto fixated his eyes on her hair for a second, getting an idea of her hair and eyes. Kinda reminded him of...

"Sakura?" He wasn't giving up on a flower name just yet.

"Hmm? Give me a sec," She knotted the stalks, presenting the marigold and daisy crown to him. It only registered to her a second later that he already said it. "Ding ding ding, we have a winner." She said dryly, hearing him splutter at her tone. She smirked, lowering her hands to place the crown on his golden hair.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, unable to see until she pushed the dangling flowers away from his eyes and onto his hair.

There was an awkward silence before she spoke, taking her own mask to tie it around the side of her head. Naruto caught her actions, eyes falling to his.

"Why...why would ya.." He trailed off, unsure of how to continue. She motioned him to sit down, and when they did she started to kick her feet lightly. "Why aren' ya scared of me?"

"I don't know. I mean," Sakura shrugged. "Would you want to see someone on the ground all depressed looking?" Twas true, and she was going to be blunt about it. "Besides, you should be the one who's scared of _me." _

"Scared of ya?" Naruto frowned like the very thought wasn't possible. He pointed to her hair, "but... your hair is _pink."_

She eyed him in disbelief. "_That's_ your logic?" It didn't matter what someone looked like, but she could have still very well have been out to get him.

He blanched at that. "Just forget it," he grumbled, kicking up dust. The pained way his eyes shone irritated her.

"Here," she gestured to the porcelain in her hands, "take it."

"Whatever." The blonde grumbled, reminded of the way she paid for it. He ran a thumb over the crack with a scoff. Why would she anyways? "It's all broke 'n stuff anyways so who freakin' cares?

"Besides," She grabbed the mask from his hands, ignoring his cursing, grammar, _and _lack of tact. She felt a grimace rise up before her lips twitched into a grin. "I think it gives it... character?" _God, that sounded weak to my__ own ears._

He called bullshit on that, and it got to the point where she had to ask where on earth he got his language from. He grudgingly said the streets, but then refuted that he couldn't and _didn't _know how to read.

"How nice," she had said dryly. "I can't either.

He flopped on the lush grass in response, sighing.

Lying on their backs, she put her hands behind her neck and she dis the same. It was peaceful, she could admit as she closed her turquoise eyes. The wind blew gently, drifting aroma's of flowers and street food to her nose. Peace and quiet, and as an added plus no screaming children running around, she thought wryly. Unfortunately, it was broken by a large growling sound.

Her eyes opened slowly and she turned to look at the boy next to her who was holding his stomach with a sheepish expression. _Must be hungry._

She sat up and twisted in relief at the sound of her back cracking. Naruto peered at her blearily at the sudden movement and sun behind her.

"Where ya goin'?" He asked but she detected an undertone of nervousness.

"Relax I'm not ditching you," she said, reassuring the boy and rolling her eyes. "I'm just grabbing some food." She turned around and stopped, "you _are _hungry, right?" She didn't eat much to begin with, but if he was hungry then she should at least get him something. She sincerely doubted he had money on him anyways.

Besides, with the way those villagers were acting? Not a chance in hell.

At that he shot up in surprise. "You're buying _me _food?"

"Yeah," Sakura shook the grass from her hair before looking at him quizically. "Why wouldn't I? It would be impolite not too." Well, if she could find her friggin _wallet. _She cursed quietly when she rifled through her pockets and found nothing.

"C'mon, where the hell is it.." Sakura froze. "Wait a second." She frowned when she reached in her right pocket. Hold on, didn't she put it in there? Her pockets were small, but they could still fit her wallet. _It couldn't have slipped out so easily._

**Sir, I believe you left it at the stall.**

Her eyes widened.

_Oh shit._

She didn't miss that guys look when she pulled her wallet. Just how much had her mother given her??!? _More importantly, how much did I give him? _Her mother was _not_ going to be happy with her. And she got _swindled _on top of it? Not good. Angry mother's were always the scariest, no matter _how _old she got.

She spun around and faced Naruto with a grimace. "Okay, I think I left my coin purse at the mask stall. Come to think of it, that guy had a certain look in his eye." Her face lit up in horror as she recalled that she left on on the counter." I bet he thought I didn't notice."

"It's okay Sakura-chan I'm sure-actually no I'm not, that guy was really mean." Naruto's face scrunched up as he patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"Chan?" She blinked as his face turned pink, shuffling his feet and looking anywhere but her face. _It sounds too cutesy. But I guess just this once. _She sighed, "call me whatever, I don't care."

Naruto instantly brightened at her mutter.

Well at least he was warming up to her a bit, albeit slowly.

"Now then, I don't know how long this will take. Soo..." Sakura sighed, shoulders dropping in assent. This time she offered an awkward sort-of smile at her rant. "See you in a bit?"

"Yeah," in her eyes, she could hear the hesitancy in his voice and the way he paused before letting her go.

She spun around again, stopping to throw a wave over her shoulder before bounding off.

O-O-O-O

"What do you mean," Sakura started with gritted teeth, gnashing together as her lips curved into a repressed snarl. Her hands were shaking and distantly she noticed the man sorting absently through his cash register and was completely ignoring her. "_You haven't seen my wallet?!!" You were right fucking there!_

**Sir, perhaps-**

_Oh don't perhaps me! You didn't see the way he was looking at me! _She swallowed. If it was one thing she hated, it was being She despised it, being tricked like some fool. A flood of images trickled into her head of the past at how similar it was to before. She started to feel an unfamiliar burn in her eyes, and started to blink at the sudden wetness. Sakura's turquoise eyes were glossy with unshed tears filling up her eyes. She blinked again and felt something wet trail down her cheek.

_Tears?_

She bit her lip in an effort to stop_. __Why.. the hell am I crying? _Her lip quivered as more tears spilled out of her eyes. She reached up to rub them away, but only made her eyes redder. Her vison began to blur and she could faintly see the stall man start to panic at her state. _Oh so now he's sympathetic? _She thought bitterly.

"Are you alright, kid?" A small, frail hand was placed on her shoulder, rubbing it gently in an attempt to soothe her. She nodded faintly with a cough, stepping back to watch in fascination as an old woman a foot taller than her in a uniform tear into the man, asking why "_-there was a child crying in front of his stall_-"she could tell the woman was refraining from smacking him in public and making a scene _"-have you no shame?!?" _she shrieked as he held up his hands in surrender, beads of sweat dripping of his tanned skin as he shrunk back in horror.

Meanwhile, she stepped closer to the woman to make it look like she was comforting her, but she was actually discreetly looking over the counter for her wallet. Her eyes trailed over the metal box, narrowing at it. _That's where he keeps his money if I had to guess._

**What are you planning to accomplish, Sir?**

She felt a smirk creep up on her mouth as she hid her mouth with her sleeve. _Oh you'll see._

This was going to be oh_-so gratifying._

"_Baa-chan__?" _Sakura whispered quietly, tugging on her dark sleeve, the woman bent down slowly, still glaring at the man but acknowledging her at the same time. "_What is it gaki?" _She murmured back, dark gray catching her own sea-jade eyes in contemplation.

_"He has something the belongs to me." _She muttered, trying to notet the fact that she called her a brat get to her.

The graying woman's orbs narrowed at him. "_I__s it money?"_

Sakura's darkening irises told her all she needed to know. But then her jaw dropped open at what happened next.

The old lady had walked over with her cane and walked _behind_ the counter to confront him. She was completely ignoring the man's squawks as she rifled through the metal box. The pink haired girl sweatdropped at the manic glee in her eyes at revenge. _Oh lord._

"Girl!" She said suddenly, and her eyes snapped to her to try and catch the object sailing through the airwith a yelp, the purse falling and bouncing off her head. "Ow!" she groaned at the heavy coins hitting her skull.

It _hurt._

"Sorry gaki," She apologizes not even _looking _sorry in the slightest, then turned around to adresss the man. "And as for you, I hope you will never do this again, are we _clear?" _At this point the man looked like he was about to pee his pants in fear at the cane swinging dangerously close to his face.

"Y-yes!"He stuttered, falling on his back as people started to mutter at the spectacle.

"_Was he really stealing from a child?"_

_"Poor girl, look at those dried tear marks! Shame on him!"_

_"That's no man!"_

He paled rapidly into a sickly color as Sakura lifted her sleeve to hide her smile.

_Now that is what I can call karma!_

**Karma? **Bardiche stopped momentarily, thinking about something. **I see. Karma; in Hinduism and Buddhism it is the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.**

Y_eah_, _in a sense_. Sakura agreed, lowering her hand. _I like to think of it as cause and effect, but that sums it up. That man has done something wrong, but he got what's coming to him because of his actions._

**So, I believe this then befits the expression 'just desserts'. **He corrected.

_Pfft, yeah. Different wording, same context. _She had to stop herself from laughing at his correction but immediately thought of something. _Wait a damn second, was that the dictionary definition?!_

"-Oi, gaki!" A pair of bony fingers snapped in front of her pale face and she blinked. "Yes?" She asked politely, bending to pick up her dark red coin pouch. "What is it?"

When she got back up, the woman's eyes were narrowed, sweeping over her figure. She felt strangely self-conscious at her staring.

A minute, and then a :"You look hungry, gaki."

Her eye twitched at the nickname. "Well, I'm _not." _She furrowed her brows, curling her hand beneath the long crimson fabric. She certainly didn't _feel_ hungry, and she had places to be.

The old woman wasn't bothered by her tone, but her eyes had a off glint to them. "I see. Are you _sure_? Then perhaps a friend?"

"What are you-" Sakura stopped, fixing her with a suspicious look. "How would you know that?"

This was getting a little too creepy for her tastes.

A finger beckoned her to follow and her feet did, slowly but surely. A single thing was going through her mind.

Who was this woman?

And why did she have this knowing look in her eye?

They didn't get far, because the place she was leading her too was just a little ways off. Sakura squinted up at the sign, unable to read the characters on the small building. The woman chuckled before openeing the door with a jingle. "It says 'Jasmine Dragon', gaki."

Sakura glared at her, stepping inside with a snort. "I'm not a brat, but i guess it takes one to know one." Her snide remark earned her a jab to the ankle by her cane.

"Don't get too personal with me, brat." As the woman disappeared into the back room, Sakura inspected her surroundings with grudging approval. The place was nice, and it was a cafe styled tea-shop too boot. It looked bigger than it did on the outside, with it's alternating beige and cream colored walls. Behind the counter, there was a large crimson dragon painted along the wall, near the large bulletin of orders and sticky notes for changes. Each table had either four seating cushions the colors of light green or teal, four chairs made of dark furnished wood, carved with a floral design that looked like a lotus flower. The lower tables were primarily situated near the back of the shop and the ones with chairs near the front. The floors were made of the same dark wood from the chairs, shining and looking newly cleaned.

All around her, workers were bustling and collecting orders, some at the counter. They all(most, she could see a few scowling)were wearing smiles on there faces, greeting and leading some to there seats. A blonde woman beamed at her as she walked by, resulting Sakura to wave back hesitantly.

Wow. She hadn't seen that many people happy with their jobs in a _long _time.

Sakura inhaled, smelling the scent of pastries and and tea with a small smile. _This place has a really nice atmosphere. _

"Nice place, isn't it girl?"

Sakura jumped, looking at the old woman in front of her holding a large cloth covered box with a dark look to which she returned with a smug grin. She answered her with a nod, glare receding.

"Yes, do you work here?" Apparently that was wrong thing to say because she started to laugh.

Sakura gave her a look that said 'tell me what's so funny-stop laughing' and arched a brow in question.

"I _own _this place."

Oh.

Well, that at least explains why she walked in like she owned the place.

The old woman's chuckles died down as she shoved the bento in her arms. "Take it, gaki. It should be enough."

Sakura stared at the large box in her hands incredulously. She could feel her arms were shaking from the sheer weight of it alone. _What the hell is in here? And why would she give me lunch? _Morever, how would she know that Naruto was hungry?

**Perhaps you should give her the benefit of the doubt, Sir?**

She pursed her lips, before dipping her head towards her. On one hand, she was only an old woman, why would she attempt to kill her. _Still, I should say thank you. She didn't have to give me this. _"Thank you for your hospitality, er-"

"My name Chihoko, girl." Chihoko surveyed her with approval, most likely because of her manners now.

"How much should I-"

"It's free." She interrupted, but gave her a remark, eyes flashing in amusement. "Knowing you though, you would mess up the currency. And practice your kanji, girl."

The pink haired girl flushed at her audacity. _I'm only five! Cut me some slack!_ _This language is too damn complicated! _Was what she wanted to say, but simply settled for a:"I'll be going now." She bent her head one last time and turned to leave. She struggled to open the door, but the pretty blonde from before swiftly ushered her through onto the streets, sending her another smile.

"Come back soon! Oh wait, do you know your way home?" She asked politely.

"I'm fine," the Haruno shook her head, grateful for her concern.

Chihoko snorted. "She'll have to come back to return those, that's not cheap, girl."

Well wasn't she just a bucket full of sunshine?

_Not._

Sakura spun around enough to give her an annoyed look. "I know, I know. And my name's not 'girl' or 'brat, it's Haruno Sakura!"

"How... fitting." She raised a brow, surprised by the sudden wrinkle of her nose."What now?"

"Are you going to make a jab at my hair color too?"

Chihoko's brows raised even higher. She didn't seem like the type. "Oh? Do I sense self-esteem issues?"

"Obaa-chan! That's rude!" The blonde was frantically waving her hands in distress. "Please don't say those kinds of things to impressionable kids!"

"Don't be ridiculous Sayuri." Chihoko waved her off, which set the girl off at her dismissal. The two bickering until she answered.

"No." Sakura said, not offended in the slightest, she didn't blame her. Everyone treated her like a fragile flower that could do no harm. "All I'm saying is my hair would just become a target for some in the future."

The pair paused their arguing. "Do you wish to be a ninja?" Why else would she complain about it?

"Don't jump to conclusions." Sakura retorted. "That statement can be taken any way."

"Why don't you dye it then?" Chihoko asked at the girl who was starting to walk away. "If it's giving you so many problems?" She was genuinely curious as to why. _What will your your answer be?_

Sakura stopped abruptly. Turning her head to the side, her sea green eyes piercing them. "It's my pride." She replied briefly before walking off.

Sayuri's head tilted in confusion. "Her...pride? Huh?"

Chihoko smirked. "Interesting." _She won't let others dictate her actions, even subconsciously._

O-O-O-O

When Sakura arrived back at park, she didn't expect to see the blonde asleep against a tree with his knees pressed to his chest, the flowers still on his head. She quietly put the box down, stepping forward to crouch in front of him.

_Aww, how cute._ Sakura had to close her mouth in order to not squeal. His sapphire irises were closed, soft, spiky blonde hair falling over his eyes. A stray pink petal was on his cheek, fallen from the flowers above._ Well, except for the fact that he's drooling a bit. Should__ wake him up though, he must be hungry._

She lightly grasped his shoulder in an effort to shake the boy awake, tone quiet. "Hey, hey Naruto wake up. Naruto?" Ugh. Why did he have to be a heavy sleeper?!

It took a few more minutes of that before the blonde finally caved and barely woke up. Naruto blinked at the blurry pinkish red figure in front of him and just closed his eyes again for blissful sleep, curling in on himself. He wasn't dealing with this for right now.

Sakura heaved a breath, eye twitching furiously. She steeled herself, getting up and moving closer to his ear. Cupping her hands over her mouth, she screamed:"Wake up Uzumaki!" The reaction was instantaneous and she had to move back from the blonde who jolted forward with a scream.

Naruto peered at her groggily, yawning in to his hand. "Sakura?"

"Hi." She said dryly, a smile tugging in her lips. "Do you even _know _how hard it is to wake you up?"

He looked down. "I thought you left me," Naruto said quietly.

She didn't want to admit it, but her heart broke a little at that.

"Like I said before, I wasn't going to leave you here. That's not the kind of person I am." Sakura said nonchalantly, reaching over to untie the cloth on the bento's.

Sakura choked at the glossy wooden boxes the food was contained in. No wonder she wanted her to bring them back. The were a beautiful polished dark brown, one with an engraving of a cherry blossom, and the other with a lily. _It's so pretty!_"Here," she passed him one and he just cracked open the lid, putting it on the grass. He snapped the two decorative chopsticks apart and dug in.

_I wonder what's in mine? _She opened the lid, and blinked. The were three onigiri wrapped in seaweed, an array of steamed vegetables, and off to the side were two sticks of colorful dāngo. The chopsticks were decorate with small flowers, similar to Naruto.

Sakura's mouth watered at the sight of dango. _Those are the best! _They were her best liked sweet around here, but it still couldn't compare to the ones back on Earth. _What I wouldn't give to have some of that again. _But the sad reality was she couldn't, because she didn't have the recipe and exact measurements.

**So you desire the recipes, Sir?**

_Yeah, but it's not like you can do anything about it._

**On**** the contrary, if you retrieve my device, there are many things I would be capable of doing.**

She popped a dango into her mouth, chewing and then swallowed. _Like what?_

**Holographic and digital assistance, spell and catridge storage, and summoning and sealing to list a few, Sir.**

Really? That must come in handy. One thing she didn't understand was... _Cartridge storage? What kind do you mean? _

**My information on that is currently limited, forgive me Sir. Cartridges would be used in my weapon form, with spell created in them for easy access. Think of it as.. an instant meal for example. However, those can only be acessed when I have been upgraded.**

_Like__ a power up?_

**In a matter of speaking, yes.**

_Speaking__ of weapon form, where are you anyway? I don't know how I am supposed to find you. You could be anywhere!_

**Hmm. I am currently somewhere where darkness lingers, and with...water? I cannot be sure.**

Well_, at least it's something. Thanks for trying. _Sakura cut off their link and returned to eating. After finishing, they could tell it was getting a bit late. She glanced at her watch. _It's four o' clock already?_

She lightly connected the boxes and stacked them, noting how she would have to wash them and bring them back sometime this week. Covering them with light blue cloth, she rose to full height.

Eyeing Naruto, she asked if it would be okay if she left early, stating that she told her mother she would be back soon, but didn't stay for lunch.

He nodded vigorously, she didn't have to stay because of him. "Go, it's fine!" It's a miracle she stayed this long.

With a jerk of her head, he watched her leave before remembering something.

"Ah! Sakura-chan! Wait!"

She twisted to the side to see him waving at her. "What is it?"

"Thank you!"

Heat rose to his cheeks, eyes widening in awe at her smirk at him softly, sparkling the color of shining turquoise in the sunlight. _Her eyes are so pretty!_ Naruto almost missed her next words.

"Hey, Naruto!"

He shook his head, looking at her in question. "What's up?"

"If you ever need anything, look for pink hair. It stands out a lot in this dull place!" She joked, winking at him and turning around. "Later!

"Bye!"

**That was awfully kind of you, Sir.**

Trust_ me, he going to need it. _Originally, he didn't, but he went through hard times to get stronger. _Poor kid._

**May I ask how you know of him?**_What do you mean by that- oh wait I remember! _She remembered now. How was she supposed to answer that though? Oh yeah, sorry but he's actual an anime character of a show she used to watch? That wasn't going to work! She walked leisurely, taking a deep breath. _Well, that's kind of hard to explain._

**If**** you do not wish to tell me, you needn't to**, Bardiche said hearing her hesitation.

_It's__ not that, okay he's an important person in this 'legend' in my world, part of a story. _Sakura explained, it was easier to say then 'manga'._T__hat's why I was so surprised earlier. If this is a story that shouldn't exist, why am I here?_

**I would not say that, Sir. All legends have some basis of truth to them. Or perhaps this is simply another world?**

_That shouldn't exist, but we're dropping this, it's making my head hurt. I know I'm never going to figure this out. _Sakura sighed.

**Affirmative.**

_Unless...Does__ Akihiko know?_

**I would believe so, but currently you do not have the required strength to do so, or materials. You have not even unlocked your own power yet.**

_About__ that, do I seriously need to be on the verge of death. _Sakura cringed, shifting her hand to knock on the door of her home. Knocking, she waited for her mother to answer. _I... I'm to-_

She placed a hand in her heart. The _a__fraid- _was unspoken. An image of a knife through her chest, blood spurting out in a wicked crimson sprung up in her mind, shuddering.

**Sir, **Bardiche said, his voice notably quieter.

_Forget it. _She thought icily. _I'll figure out my own way._

**As you wish.**

"Sakura!" Her mother gasped as she opened the door for her. " Welcome back! I though you would stop by for lunch!"

Sakura bent down to slip off her black shoes."Things got a bit... complicated?"

Meruna gave her a stern look, hands jutted on her hips and all. "Haruno Sakura what did you do? And look at yourself! Your all dirty!"

"Actually, it wasn't _my _fault. A guy robbed me blind!" Sakura exclaimed, pausing briefly to add something. "Oh but don't worry, I got it back, see?" She shook the bag, hearing the clinking of coins against bills.

Unfortunately that did nothing as the blonde woman's jaw dropped at her daughter's attitude. "What happened! You were _robbed? How?!?"_ Her voice shrieked loudly making Sakura cup her hands over her ears with a wince. "Kaa-sama!"

"I'm Sorry," Meruna finally sighed. "Just give me an explanation at dinner, and what is that your holding? Leftovers?"

"It's empty, and I need to clean it and return it to this n- old lady." Just because she gave her food with a snark demeanor does not mean she was going call her _nice._

That garnered Meruna's attention. "Oh? Who?"

Sakura shrugged. "I think her name was Chihoko or something, she didn't give me a last name."

"Well, tell her I said thank you for looking after my clumsy daughter."

"Not with that wording! And I'm not clumsy!" Sakura said affronted.

"Hai~hai~ Now go change," she shooed her upstairs with her deep red kimono sleeves then picked up the box from the floor. I'll have dinner ready by six."

Sakura yawned, walking up the wooden stairs of her home accompanied by cream white walls. She turned and went past her mothers room into her own.

She twisted the gold knob, stepping inside, shutting it and flipping the light switch on. Her room (much like the rest of their home) was different shades of red and whites. Her pure white bed was against the wall, a pink cat plushie on the pillow as a gag gift from her mother a year back, saying she had a smirking facial expression of a _cat _of all things.

What blasphemy, she did _not._

The walls were a bright red with white lining along the walls and were bare with no decorations. Beside her window was a a bookshelf filled with a few books ( some were picture). A simple wood dresser with a few trinkets here and sitting there once again she noticed with a groan was a pink smiling crystal cat head that her mother had placed there as _another _joke that was getting real old. No matter where she _put_ the damn thing it _always came back._

Her mother was insane and loved messing with her.

_One of these days, I'm going to throw it out the window, _she swore, ignoring it to grab a white embroidered flower shirt and shorts. She changed quickly and set her new mask on her beside table, then looked at herself in her full-body mirror.

She was a mess, with her eyeliner smudged and fading into the pale red eyeshadow she had put on a few hours ago. Sakura left her room to wash her face thoroughly, coming back in fifteen minutes later with a clearer face and no dirt smudges.

Sittibg down on the edge of the bed, she called on Bardiche. _I have something to ask you. _Her tone filled with guilt. _And I'm sorry for snapping at you before. _Just because she was scared didn't mean she had to take it out on him.

**You have reason to be disturbed, Sir. It is a very risky thing to consider. Where you meaning to ask something of me?**

_Yeah, what's in a surpression potion? If I don't find the book by the time I'm eight, what then? _

**I am not certain, but because you are affiliated with hope, I suspect rather dark ingredients.**

_Why__? _Dark ingredients? What could be considered 'dark', she wondered. Blood? She discarded the thought immediately, no way.

**In the end, it all comes down to balance. You alone will subside the darkness within the potion, making it neutral and safe for you to consume.**

_Well__ that's good to know._She scooted back to lay on her pillow, engrossed in her own thoughts. Her eyes kept closing briefly before opening once again, yawning. Sakura hugged her cat plush tighter, curling into herself to try and fall asleep. _So sleepy..._

**Rest, Sir.**

_Hai~ _She yawned again, blinking with watered eyes. It felt like only minutes passed by when Sakura's eyes flickered open, she could barely hear her mother callings drifting up the hall.

"-akura! Dinner time!"

**"**I'm up, I'm up!" She yelled back, tangling in her sheets accidentally and sliding off her bed. "Ouch my back! Damn it!"

"Language!"

"Ugh," Sakura flopped back exasperatedly, pain shooting up her limbs. She cracked open an eye to look at her watch. "5:57 already!!"

Why did it feel like lately...

"Why the hell is time slipping away from me!"

"Sakura!"

_End._


	5. Oddities? Artistic endeavors!

**Hey hi~ How are you?**

**Good?**

**I would hope so, but if you aren't well...I hope this can cheer you up?**

**Well, onto the chapter~**

**By the way, im probably going to keep updating at the end of each month, or twice.**

**P.S, your reviews give me life, so thank you!**

**(I don't own Naruto or any other references)**

O.o.O

At the newly turned age of six, Sakura finally thought she had the hang of things.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time in the library and her mother's teachings, she could read very well. Even if it _had_ come off as a little suspicious when she first asked. When Meruna wasn't working at the shop, she spent her time making her proficient enough to do actual schooling. But because of her new intake of knowlege, she was beginning to forget a lot of things. Half the memories she possessed were slowly slipping away from her, and she could do nothing about it. Instead, she had resigned herself to make a diary of sorts, to remember better. Well, a bit after her mother had bought it for doing so well on her lessons.

Diary slash suedo-notebook aside, she should have done it sooner, but learning kānji, hiragana, and katakana was a challenge in of itself.

Which is why she took to the difficult task of _alternating_ the few languages she knew.

Japanese was for things of little importance, like how her day went. English and Spanish, for things she _partly _knew was for the things like actual memories she had remembered, or something about the series. A lot of things were crammed in the book. Some where along the lines, things had merged together. From song lyrics to music notes dotting the margins, it was starting to get a little _messy. _Brightly colored pieces of paper (mock sticky note tabs, because apparently they didn't have those) were slitted between pages.

Currently said book was lying faced down in the dirt, halfway open and perpetrator standing a few feet away.

Because right now, she had a bit of a... _situation _of sorts.

"Watch where you're going _forehead freak!_ I don't want your lower class on my clothing!"

Insults and slander aside, the girl was well spoken for her age. _Lower class, she must be some sort of rich civilian's daughter__,_ Sakura thought.

"Get out of Ami-sama's way_..pinky!"_

_"Is__ it even natural?__"_ Her eye twitched at her stage whispering. Calm down, they're only children.

"Yeah!"

One thing that had always been a constant in _both _worlds, was child bullying.

Well, in this case it would be if she was affected emotionally, however to her this was just an annoyance. With the three girls in front of her looking at her like she's nothing less than the dirt under her shoes. It wasn't like she wanted to be liked by them, was a little peace too much to ask?

Sakura sighed quietly for what must have been the hundreth time that day. Dear lord, did children just have no good comebacks these days? From her prospective, it sure _seemed_ like it. She picked herself off the ground, dusting off her white shirt with a red flower spiralling off the edges, Haruno symbol stark red against her back. Sakura eyed the girls who flinched back at her blank stare until she directed her gaze at the muddy brown eyed girl.

And her mother _wondered _why she didn't play with other children?

"Ami, was it? I'm apologize, as I didn't intend to bump into you. However, I believe you should apologize to me as well-"

"_WHAT!" _

"- Because firstly, you insulted me, secondly, you just _shoved __me on the ground._"

Instead of apologizing like the nice litte girl her parents raised her to be (or at least, hoped so), Ami just upturned her nose, looking up with a huff. "I don't need to give apologies to a _commoner!"_

Okay, that's it. She was done.

"I see," Sakura cleared her throat. "In that case, I'll be taking my leave." No use staying any longer if she wasn't going to. Maybe she shouldn't have bowed so mockingly, because the second she turned around she was yanked back and pushed to the ground for the second time.

Her vision blurred for a second before refocusing on the ponytail girl who was smiling at her maliciously.

"We're not _done _with you."

A hand roughly caught her by her shirt, fist aimed back with Sakura gripping the other girls wrist but not letting go.

The pink haired girl squeezed her eyes shut, but it did nothing to lessen the pain. Sakura's own fist was clenched, pulling back to hit somewhere, _anywhere._

**_Crack!_**

**_Bam!_**

She slowly opens her eyes, turquoise orbs widening and lifted a hand to warmth dripping down her open jaw. A sharp pain shot up her nerves from her mouth, the right side of her face starting to pinken. The wailing of the girl as she clutched her cheek that was rapidly swelling glared at her.

_I didn't think I hit that hard. _Sakura thought absentmindedly, the watering of her eyes at the pain. _But damn did she hit hard. Was_ she overreacting?

She didn't expect the strange taste to invade her tastebuds.

When Sakura finally closed her mouth, it should have filled with the taste of something metallic, due to the iron content in blood.

Instead, it was the sickening watered down taste of metal and mixed with traces reminiscent of something vaguely _sweet. _

Her cheeks swelled up as she spluttered, coughing at the sudden taste in her mouth. _What the _**_hell__?_** She spat on the ground, retching at the disgusting taste on her tongue. Saliva and oddly shimmery crimson coating the grass disturbingly as she got up, covering her mouth to race to the fountain.

She _hated _overly sweet things.

She cupped her hands, placing them under the running spout. Sakura drunk greedily, then swished with it to rid herself of the horrible flavor once and for all. When it was gone a little, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, turning to watch Ami try to drag the girls away to find an adult, most likely to pin the blame on her.

That wasn't what disturbed her, honestly speaking.

_My blood..._

Her tongue dragged over her the remnants on her lip, tasting the crimson once more in muted shock and disgust.

_Bardiche,_ of course _he _would know. **_Explain._**

At this point she was thinking of all the things that weren't wrong with her.

**Yes sir, **she jolted at his automated tone that reverberated in her mind before relaxing. Did he always have to do that? **Your blood is diluted by 50%. **Sakura gasped at the watery substance on her finger. She flipped it over, watching it roll off onto the grass. Diluted by what? _Water?_

**The faint metallic undertones of stereotypical blood are in fact watered down by your mana, and the sweetness is due to the content of your affiliation. I do believe Akihiko would have a more bitter blood type from the chaos, if you are indeed wondering specifications. It also grants certain benefits as well** **for potion making.**

_I see. _Sakura thought shortly, before shaking her head. That explained a lot actually, so this was her mana's doing? It wasn't active, so how?

_That's__ all, thank you._

She hadn't thought that she was very much different, and now was wondering what _was. _This was the first time she had gotten injured that wasn't some small papercut or something of the like. She knew she was completely human, just a bit weirder.

**As you wish.** His voice faded from her head.

And, for a while, that was the end of that.

Until it came up _again _when she visited that crazy old bat (Chihoko).

(Not of her free will, of course).

And she took _no _part in writing that cheery thank-you note that her mother insisted she put in after she picked up dessert the other night.

"Hah? What happened to you, girl? Lose a fight?" Chihoko mocked as she wrote down an order. When she walked passed, she eyed the bright red mark on her face.

Sakura snorted, spinning around and clutching the ice-pack Sayuri had given her after a copious amount of fussing. _Of course she would assume that. _She hadn't _lost_, because the other girl had ran away screaming in pain. She was to dignified to admit out loud that the girl could throw a pretty good punch, though. By now, Ami and her lackeys would notice she was missing, but it didn't really matter. "There wasn't a fight to _be_ lost, actually."

And she _still _had that gross taste in her mouth. "Sayuri-san, can I have a cup of green tea?"

The blonde paused, popping her her head from behind the counter. She passed the order to a man and turned to her, hands on hips. "There's a lot of caffeine in that..." Sayuri trailed off.

"Since I'm too young for coffee, I'd rather take the tea." It was a pity she couldn't have any. Sakura missed the dark, rich taste of bitter coffee greatly, but she was too young.

"Does she have money?!" Chihoko hollered from a few table booths away. They both flinched, Sayuri whose shoulders immediately slumped and Sakura in mild shock.

They were talking at normal level, but how had that old woman hear them with all the noise in the shop? Her hearing can't be that _good, _especially at her age.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like lemon tea?" Sayuri offers after shouting at the old woman -apparently she did that often- and ignoring her comment about the amount of money she possesed.

Sakura tossed an annoyed look towards the surly owner, and patted her black shorts pocket. "I have money with me, and I'll take green tea, thanks."

"If you're sure... and feel free to take a seat! You don't have to stand!" Sayuri gestured to one of the few barstools that were unoccupied near the counter, going to collect her order.

Around ten minutes later Sayuri returned, placing the steaming cup in front of her. "Careful, it's extremely hot," she warned, before a tug on her wrist made her turn back. Sakura had a thoughtful frown on her face.

"What's wrong? Do you want something else?"

"Before," Sakura started to ask curiously, "How did she hear me? We weren't within earshot, and it's pretty noisy in here, so how?"

Sayuri's lips twisted into a wry sort of smile. "Ah, so that's it. Sakura, do you know what a kekkai genkai is?"

"A kekkai genkai, or bloodline limit, is supposed to be an ability passed down through generations, right?" Sakura asked. Or in some cases, thay surfaced out of nowhere. Which was how new clans were eventually created. "So, some sort of variant? I've never heard of that kind." Which was true, but there were hundreds of them outside of the village, and she hadn't been allowed to read the things on genin-level and above.

For a power that resided in the eyes, thos were coined the term _dōjutsu. _Konoha only possesed the sharingan and byakugan, which granted the power of three-sixty vision, and gave the members of the Uchiha clan the ability to mimic any genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. Other clans in Konoha had the ability to control insects, shadows, to change shape and size, mind readers too. It made her a little envious, but not enough so due to how coveted they were.

She didn't need that kind of danger, she had a mission, after all. _Way to count my lucky stars._ Then she paused, sea-jade narrowing in displeasure.

But what would happen if they found out about her own power? Or Bardiche? _The yamanaka could infiltrate my mind if they ever find me off. _She had to stay away from them, then.

**Indeed****, Sir.** **If a Yamanaka finds you suspicious in any way, you must avoid their abilities of the mind.**

Sayuri nodded, affirming her statement as Sakura's focus drifted back to her. "Yes, the clan she is descended from has the ability of the sixth sense, which instead enhances one of her own senses."

"DON'T GO SPILLING All MY SECRETS SAYURI!" a loud shout echoed through the cafe, causing everyone to clap their hands over their ears.

"Relax," Sayuri thankfully said in a lower tone, rolling her eyes. "You seem to be oddly paranoid, are you worried about something? She's a child, so what does it matter?!!"

"SHUT UP!"

A serving tray bounced off her head and Sakura hid a barely repressed wince, coughing a little on her tea. _Damn, that's got a hurt._ But Sayuri got back up and threw it behind her, not caring about the loud clang. She smiles, and ruffled her pink hair. "As you can tell, Obaa-san has incredible hearing, and the more chakra she inputs, the farther it goes. She usually does it as precaution, to see how things are going, but it does have its limits." Sayuri caught Sakura's blank look and offered a sheepish look. "Sorry, I must not be making any sense, huh?"

"It's not that," Sakura dismissed. "I just wanted to know something, how do _you_ know all of this? As far as I know, you're a waitress, right?"

"Looks can be deceiving~" Sayuri sing-songed and skipped away to serve another customer who had just entered unknowingly.

Sakura blinked in mild surprise, and shook her head with a smirk. Sayuri called Chihoko 'obaa-san', which either indicated a close relationship _or _familial relations. So there was a fifty-fifty chance of that being true. And since she didn't see it in the library or in any of the books, it was either restricted knowledge (which was plausible) or it wasn't recorded as information in their databases.

And if that _was _the case, why would they hide it?

Sakura finished her tea quickly, payed, and set the note down. She'd have to look into that later.

She had places to be, after all.

Which was meeting up with Naruto at the park she was just at, who wasn't any less chipper from last she saw him.

The blonde was like sunshine condensed into a small, little child.

He was happy to see her, as usual. Which was a nice sentiment, coming from someone other than her mother, but seemed more subdued like he had just been told bad news. The look immediately faded into worry the sight of her.

"Sakura-chan! What's wrong with your face!?" Naruto asked in the midst of standing extremely close to her face. She pushed him away from her lightly.

"Try not to stand so close to me," Sakura said. "And have you ever heard of the _word_ tact?" She knew it was a concern, and _not_ a backhanded thing to say, but really?

He seemed a little abashed, and scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry? What's tact mean?"

"It's fine," Sakura relented. _Just a child, just a child. _How many times had she heard from other adults around her to act her age, but what age was that? She shouldn't be so hard on him, he got enough of that from the villagers. "Don't worry about it."

They sat in complete silence, small bodies leaned against the tree. When she looked over at Naruto, he looked like he was torn in trying to tell her something. Sakura glanced at him quizzically, asking what was wrong. Which was a loaded questioned, because his bright eyes dimmed.

"The orphanage kicked me out," was whispered, and she inhaled sharply.

She wasn't expecting that, old memories resurfacing in her head.

Sakura stayed silent for a moment, then drew her legs to her chest. Then she spoke, pushing her rose-colored hair out of her face. "Do you need a place to stay?"

Naruto shook his head, denying the offer, giving her a smaller smile. He was glad she cared. "The old man got me an apartment now, but it's kind of messy." He had moved in a week back, and he hadn't exactly...well, _cleaned _anything.

Sakura's lips downturned, eyes reflecting back disapproval. _He's too young to be living on his own. _And old man? Who referred to the Hokage in such a way? Well, that didn't matter, what did was how he was living all alone now. Of course, he also wouldn't accept her offer for fear of imposing. _So what now?_

An idea sparked to life in her mind. _He said it was messy, right? _She shuddered, that must have been bad. "Hey, where do you live now? Do you need help moving stuff?"

"Umm...no? I don't have anything-!" He yelped as he was dragged up by his wrist by the small girl.

"Good. Now, let's go."

Naruto frowned deeply. How was him not having much great?

"Where are we going?" It was like the day they first met all over again.

Sakura's eyes curved upwards, shades of blue and green meshing together as she turned to look at him.

"To meet my mother, of course. If she's home." When in doubt of herself, she usually went to two people; her mother, or Bardiche, naturally. Maybe she could help with some of the things he needed?

"EEHHH?!!" His squawk echoed through the park and people looked at him disapprovingly.

Naruto's face was red, which she didn't completely understand the reason for. "You-your _mom?!?__"_

"The very same," Sakura said dryly, letting go of his arm so they could walk side by side. "Do you not want to?"

Naruto blonde hair hung over his eyes as he glanced at her, looking uneasy. He kicked at the dirt of the road. "It's just, adults don't really like me..." He trailed off.

"Kaa-sama isn't like that," She reassures with a sigh. Though she isn't sure of the fact completely, she knows she wouldn't turn him away. "I think she'll like you. Well, probably."

Naruto brightened up with so much _hope _it made her head spin. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

The rest of the walk was silent untill they finally reached her abode. Naruto's eyes went wide. "Whoa, it's huge!"

"Not really, it's smaller on the inside, believe me." Sakura waved off (her house was connected with the others along the street, so it would look a little big), before realization slapped her in the face. _She should be home, right? _

Laughing at her stupidity, she knocked on the door twice. Her mother's schedule was iffy, so it was a give or take situation when she had to watch the shop at times when her some employees couldn't. Meaning she had to take the orders and requests given to them. Not that she didn't work, it was her usually taking care of paperwork and the financial aspect of things, along with some help. But when she pulled all-nighters because of them, Sakura ended up staying awake to make sure she was okay. _Did she even take her medicine?_

**I would believe so, considering you advised such prior to your departure.**

When there was no response after the fifth knock, she was certain she wasn't home. _I guess I'll do it myself._

She slid a bobby pin out of her hair as Naruto watched her puzzled. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I suppose this would be considered breaking into my own house, seeing as my mother isn't home." She said it so casually Naruto choked on his own spit.

"Breakin' into your own- don't you have a key!?" He shouted. Even he had one!

"My mother has the only one, so we might need to replicate it soon." This wasn't going to become a reoccurring thing, after all. "And besides, don't you think I would have done that by now?" Sakura rolled her eyes; sliding the pin was the easy part, but she knew she had to rotate it enough to click the inner whatever-the-hell it was called up simultaneously for it to work. The girl jiggled it slightly, before twisting it. Sakura bent down, and peered through the knob's crevice. She vaguely remembered how to do it, but it had been awhile.

After a final attempt and Naruto's doubting looks later, she smirked in triumph. _Finally!_ She wasted no time getting up and opening the door with a louder click, swinging it back.

Naruto gave her a look of awe with eyes sparkling like jewels. "That's so cool!"

Sakura slid the pin back in her hair triumphantly, tilting her head. _I still got it._

"Take off y-" she would have continued but he had already shucked off his dark blue sandals. Placing her own on the ground and away from the entrance, she lead Naruto through the foyer, pairs of feet padding through her home.

"Why are we here anyways?" Naruto marveled at the way her house looked. All varying shades of reds and whites, with few splashes of brown and as acessories; namely the wood frames and glass vases holding flowers, which looked to be a trend by the way there was all sorts of greenery in subtle ways, kinda like his place! He had a few plants too! His cornflower irises caught the sight of something. _What's with all the circles?_

Naruto noticed a this time red circle on her back when she turned around to lead him upstairs.

Wasn't it white?

"Sakura-chan?" He interrupted, seeing her walk into some sort of...supply closet?

"Hmm?" He stepped back and ducked at the sudden materials flung in his proximity. What was she looking for in there? Naruto tripped over a rolled over paint can with a pained groan. How did that even get there!? "Ouch!"

A muffled apology drifted back from her, but still he asked his question. "What's up with the circles around here?"

A silence filled the hallway, and he might have suspected he had said the wrong thin-

"The Haruno circle, represents elegance and new beginnings in this family. Well, even if we _are_ civilians. A never-ending circle; which in a sense is a little ironic, considering the circumstances." Naruto heard her chuckle.

"What's iron-ic mean?"

"_Ironic,_ means something happened in an opposite way then you expected." He nodded, kind of understanding her words. _Then why would it be iron-ic?_ _I don't get it!_

"You dont get it, do you?" A feminine laugh echoed and he jolted.

_What the hell!_

A blush formed on his cheeks as he spluttered. "Wha-yes I do! And what are you even doing in there? My back _still_ hurts," he grumbled.

"Whatever you say. Hey, I think I rolled a can over there-"

"You mean the one that almost killed me!"

"Yes, now do you mind checking the color!" Sakura shouted and he winced. "I think it's white? Or maybe a light _blue-"_ He then heard her voice slip into a bunch of strange sounds he couldn't begin to understand. He checked the tab on the side, she was right. It was a cream shade of white, like eggs.

"It's white!" He called back. "Sakura-chan?" Naruto peeked into the closet, to see an array of cleaning supplies behind her and...paint brushes? Was she planning an epic prank? He giggled in excitement. _Does she like pranking too?_

"Are ya going to prank someone?"_It's so dark!_ There was a single light bulb hanging from the top that casted shadows along the wall, and spotted a pink-haired figure in the middle.

"No, you said your place was messy, right? I have a feeling it's worse than what you're saying. So, consider this a favor." His eyes widened as she scooped up a plastic crate filled with cleaning supplies, balancing them with the other roller brushes and actually attempting to walk out with all of it. The blonde gaped at her, not processing what she had just told him, heart warming with disbelief and something unknown to him. _Sakura-chan__..._

"What are you standing around for?" Sakura's hands were shaking, but she held an expectant gaze. "This is your place we're fixing up, get moving!" He fumbled wih the long brushes and paint cans thrown at him, before catching them.

"R-right!"

The wide grin Naruto held that day never dimmed, not even by the amount of times people stared at the two kids oddly around that day (including his sketchy neighbors).

"See, my gut feeling was right. Now, aren't you glad-" Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose at the slight smell of cleaning fumes, "-that I'm here?" Naruto nodded rapidly and she tossed a face mask to him and slipped one over her own mouth.

They were scrubbing the sinks and countertops that they had since cleared of plates and cups, which underneath had this weird sticky stuff that smelled really strong.

Sakura had a similarly disgusted look, glad she had on rubber gloves and a mask. Her eyes watered from the familiar burning scent_. __Alcohol, what sort of drunkard lived here before?_

It had reminded her of a bigger studio apartment, with the living room that was decently sized (for the most part) and kitchen connected off to the side. The walls were a faded grim white with brown panels of wood that met the paint, and had a strange dark stain in the far corner, and don't even get her _started _on the way the kitchenette looked. It was the worst of all, with plates and bowls piled off that she assumed were Naruto's in the sink, and the counters were plain weird. There were tall wooden barstools of to the side which she approved off.

Sakura's yellow gloved hand opened the fridge. _Milk, bread, eggs, and a lot of untouched vegetables and fruits. _So all he was missing was meat and some other things. When she cracked open the cupboards, they revealed an insane amount of instant ramen that had her jaw dropping in surprise. She glance over to Naruto who was sweeping the floors like she instructed.

And like any kid, of _course_ he wouldn't eat vegetables

"Naruto?"

The boy in question sweatdropped at her tone. "Yeah?"

"I see you haven't been eating your fruits and vegetables, any reason?" He wrinkled his nose in response, which she expected.

"They taste weird! The old man got those a few days ago, and they tasted funny!"

They didn't _seem _expired. So that only left..

"They only taste funny because they probably haven't been made in a way you would like them." Sakura quipped.

"I just don't like some of them." He mumbled.

Now _that, _she could work with.

"Tell you what, I'll make you dinner tonight, and if you still don't like them, I won't bug you about it for the rest of your life, okay?" She offered. _Now he might be a little more inclined towards it. _

"..." He radiated skepticism at her suggestion.

_Maybe not._ She sighed, trying a different approach.

"I'll make dessert?"

By the glint in his eyes and grin on his face, she could tell he was sold.

**Nice job, Sir! **Bardiche cheered as she groaned mentally.

_I'm becoming weak to this...this child!_

After fixing the absolutely_ horrifying _kitchen, Sakura was contemplating paint colors. _Would he want his room painted too?_

"White or blue?"

Naruto sighted the colors she held in her two hands. "White," he decided.

"Okay then. I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." She plucked him by the back of his shirt and dragged him to the exit. She kicked open the door, and plopped him outside on the stairway. He was cleary baffled on why she was making him leave.

"What?!?" He had rights! "I wanna paint to!" He whined.

"Not a chance. I don't want the smell of paint getting to you, I saw how bad you looked and you were only _cleaning._" The smell was rather toxic, so she didn't want his health to deteriorate. Sakura felt like hitting herself on the head. He didn't have to deal with a mess that wasn't his in the first place. "So if you remember the way, go back to my house. I left the door unlocked, so close it when you enter. I'll be back by around seven and if you haven't had lunch yet you can raid my fridge _just _this once, alright?" At his shaky nod she continued, trying to think of anything else.

"You can do anything just don't go snooping around, try not to break anything, those vase's costs more than my life-" She teases and she notices him crack a smile at that.

"-And if my Kaa-sama shows up which I highly doubt, you can tell her you're a friend and I _think _that's all." She tapped her chin.

Sakura turned to leave until arms curling around her waist stopped her. She stiffened at the sudden hug.

"Sakura-chan...thank you." He whispered lightly, voice teetering on the edge of _something_ as she returned it briefly and she smiled (as small as it was) then curtseyed, placing an arm behind her back.

"You're most welcome, kind sir." The last bit didn't translate well, and it was a faulty imitation of Bardiche's british accent, but it had done the trick. He burst into a fit of giggles at her voice, tears falling from eyes she suspected were more cheerful now.

Sakura placed the blue mask back over her face, giving a wave as she left. As she slipped back through the door, she couldn't stop herself-

"This place will shine when I'm done!"

The loud laugh she received made her lips tug upwards.

Sakura bent down with a sharp knife, and lifted the lid. The warning had clearly stated kids shouldn't have been around if a large area was to painted. So she was going to end up dead by this later on. Joy.

**I fear this will endanger your health, Sir.**

_I have a mask, I'm going to be fine. _The concern was palpable, and she felt her cheeks burn a little. _You worry too much_. She quickly wound dark masking tape around the lower edges of the wall, and checked around other areas. Should she paint the kitchen? _It seems decent enough._

Her stomach twinged. She was hungry, she knew, but it would have to wait. Switching her ripped gloves out, she let them go with a determinated glare. No matter what, she was going to make this place _sparkle._

A few hours later, looking back the intensity she had was embarrassing to her, but served as great motivation. The newly painted walls were a stunning shade of clear white, with the wood floors on the bottom giving a nice contrast. The kitchen had bright sunny yellow paint that she had decided on later, and everything was properly clean. No suspicious stains on the counters anymore, she would be safe to assume it was a successful day.

She fell back on the couch, exhausted but pleased. Sakura blew white spotted strands out of her face. Her arms were completely sore, and she knew she would be seeing white paint on her skin for a while.

God, she needed a _bath._

_It's nice_ _to see clean things, _she mused. _Especially doing it yourself._

**Indeed, it's quite immaculate.**

She took a peek outside. The sky was starting to dim from its pale blue shade into a bright mix of purples and pinks. _I should go home now._ Her torso twisted in hunger. _I still have to cook. _Hefting up the now lighter supplies, she smiled on her way back.

**You're rather kind to the boy, Sir. Why?**

Why what? Why she cared? There had been a fair amount of times she had questioned why she so was nice to him, and some adults warned of it. The same thing she had asked herself a few hours ago.

She gazed at the clearing sky.

_Bardiche_, _the thing is, if no__ one else is going to be nice to him, who is?_

Sakura walked up the concrete steps slowly, barely seeing above the things she was holding. She balanced the bucket on her knee and cradled the clean brushes in the crook of her arm, trying to knock on the door. _If he isn't here.._

"Hello? Naruto are you even here?"

_Am I going to have to pick the lock again? _She didn't think it was good to do it a lot. Wouldn't it damage the actual lock itself? She was starting to lose hope until her ears pricked to the sound of footsteps.

She sighed in relief at the door gradually opening, and saw Naruto's spiked blonde hair. He pulled the crate away from her and she wiggled her arm to slide it to her hands. She set it on the floor, careful to watch the paint getting on the floor.

She sunk into the dark couch, eyes starting to flutter shut. Before completely closing, she glanced around, her house seemed normal enough. Remembering what she had said, she eyed Naruto hesitantly. "You didn't, you know..._break _anything, right?"

"Huh? No way!" Naruto protested, arms flying around in a panic. "I didn't!"

"Oh, okay." Sakura yawned, and got up. Food took priority now, as much as she would've liked to take a trip to dream world. "What do you want for dinner?"

He turned confused at her, tilting his head to the side. "Huh?" She was asking him?

"What would you _like _to eat?" Sakura said rolling her shoulders to rid herself of fatigue. She waved him off. "Wait, I'll make ramen. You seem to like it well enough." _By the piles of instant ramen he has in his cupboards. _She'd have to find a way to incorporate the vegetables it in without it tasting too bad.

His eyes sparkled with happiness at the prospect, were those flowers behind him?! "Ramen.. really!? Yes!" He cheered, bouncing on the furniture. As she walked into the kitchen she shook her head at the sound of his chants.

Sakura later stood in front of the stove with a frown. Ramen was essentially a mix of broth and noodles, with vegetables and a few add-ins of the person's choosing. Flipping through the pages of only cookbook they had, her eyes flickered from each page with slight wariness. The girl tied an apron around her waist, cinching it tightly.

She also had to make dessert.

What didn't come off as a surprise to her was how Konoha, or really any other village, didn't seem to have any kinds of diverse sweets. It was all similar to Japanese confections (which wasn't bad), but they didn't make different kinds of _variety. I love hanami dāngo, but it's a little boring now. _Maybe she could try her luck at cupcakes?

She sucked on her lower lip, adding the noodles to the boiling water. When they became soft and chewy, she drained the water, and focused on the broth. She next chopped the vegetables, some cut into thin slices, and others in cubes and added them in to simmer. She wasn't aware of the amount of time passing, her head was starting to ache uncomfortably.

She exhaled lightly at the two steaming bowls of now finished food, reflecting back her face. She grabbed a tray, only for it to clatter on the ground. She flinched at the ringing noise, bringing her palm to rest against her face. She crouched to pick up the fallen metal. _At least I'm almost done._

Sakura cut the tip of a plastic bag containing white buttercream frosting, and piped swirls along the small vanilla cakes. There were only six, so everyone could have two. She placed two in the fridge for her mother, and set a lid over the rest of the pot. She untied the apron on her waist, threading it through the oven handle bar.

Once everything was set on the tray she walked to the five-seated dining table and put it down. She stepped into the living room, calling out to him. Had he fallen asleep? "Naruto?" She spotted him sprawled out on the couch, light snores emitting from his mouth.

Sakra shook him gently, and thankfully that was all she had to do.

Once he got rid of the last vestiges of sleep, they ate in the dining room. They talked of things the other had done when they hadn't see each other, but before she knew it the topic had diverted to future profession's, namely Naruto's.

"What about you Sakura-chan?" He slurped the last drop of the chicken broth she had made. He set it down with a grin, yet still curious. "Are you gonna be a ninja too?" That'd be so cool!

"I.." She stopped a moment, thoughtful of the question. What _did _she want to do? "Huh. I'm not sure, actually." Ninja? She could train, yes, without suspicion, if she joined the academy. She would be able to help better, but what if...Was it possible to find the two she was looking for, then? Sakura's mind flashed back to her meeting with Itachi.

_'Becoming a shinobi or kunoichi is not for the faint of heart, so choose well.'_

_Choose__ well..._

Vaguely, she morbidly wondered if life in this world was all done like some elaborate game of chess. _And_ _I'd__ just be a pawn if I became_ _a ninja. _That put her out a bit, stirring her chopstick through her half-eaten bowl of food. How depressing, to ultimately know your fate rested with those who truly held the most power.

The authority and control the Hokage possesed honestly scared her.

And trying to find people whose gender, age, or even physical traits were lost to her... and Akihiko didn't even give her a _hint_ of all things-! On the other hand, becoming one would give her a chance to access more information that Konoha might not have.

There were so many cons...

Sakura's exotic eyes pierced his blue. He figeted for a moment under her intense stare. "Why..." She muttered and he blinked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you-" She twisted her head to the side, chewing on her lip. _What.._ Was that the sound of a key? It was faint, from where they were sitting, but she heard it clearly.

Naruto asked where she was going she had already reached the door, seeing her mother putting her shoes off to the side.

"Kaa-sama." _She's so pale. _Paler than normal. Not pasty, a little.._sickly._ "Did you... take your medicine?" Her mother might not have told her _what_ ailed her and all she knew was that her immune system wasn't good.. at that moment, she wished she _remembered _more. All those years of learning gone down the _drain. __And people were complaining so much about school? In this place, it would be considered invaluable._

Sakura received a tired smile in response. "No, it was rather busy today." Meruna gestured pointedly at the other pair of sandals near the door. "Do we have a guest?"

"Yes, it's a friend." Her mother's sudden squealings of -"you have a friend and you never told me!"- made her glad she didn't question _how_ she came in without a key.

Crisis averted.

_Thank the fates. _

She looked back on the moment her green-eyed mother met him, as she brushed her teeth, a towel hanging off her wet hair. Fortunately, there had been no judging stares, just her coddling his small form and cooing at how cute he was, much to his embarrassment. When Meruna learned of what had been going on, she offered him to stay the night. She dried her wet locks, and stepped in

Sakura re-entered her room as quietly as possible, seeing the lights off and Naruto's snoring on the futon (she noticed with a frown) near the edge of her bed, stil wearing the clothes he had worn all day, since they didn't have any male clothing. He hadn't cared, but she felt bad about it. Also.._Why is he sleeping on the floor? Did he not know the futon was for me? _If he was a guest, he was supposed to take the bed, sleeping on the floor didn't matter to her. She tiptoed over to him silently, hooking her arm underneath his, and one under his legs. To her surprise, the boy barely stirred from her movement as she let him rest on her bed. She pulled the red blanket over him, and stepped back with a quiet laugh.

He was so _small _on her large bed, and he was clutching her _pink_ _cat plushie._

Snort.

Moonlight peered through cracks of her white curtains, streaming down to shine on the wood. She studied it for a minute, and pulled a blanket over herself this time. She yawned, blinking up at the white ceiling blearily.

_Night, Bardiche._

**Goodnight, Sir.**

As Sakura dozed off, she never realized it was the pale _full_ moon, shining brightly in the sky, stars illuminated clearer than ever.

In dainty script, writing began to form in pale orange and gold. A swirl circled beneath it, finishing the tattoo.

_~As life changes, so shall the circle to the loyalty born from friendship vowed~ _

A dark sangria red _Uzumaki _swirl stood stark against her skin, underneath the cryptic wording.

She didn't wake for the rest of the night.

_End._


End file.
